Rapid Chondrocyte Isolation for Tissue Engineering Applications: The Effect of Enzyme Concentration and Temporal Exposure on the Matrix Forming Capacity of Nasal Derived Chondrocytes

Figure 1

(a) Nasal cartilage was harvested from the bovine nasal septum. (b) Tissue was finely minced (~1 mm) using two scalpel blades. (c) Minced tissue was enzymatically digested using different collagenase enzyme concentrations (750 and 3000 U/ml; ratio of 10 ml per gram of cartilage tissue) and exposure times (1 h and 12 h) with (w/) or without (w/o) intermittent physical agitation using the Gentlemacs™ tissue dissociator to optimize cell yield and viability. (d) Effect of physical agitation on cell yield (×10⁶ per g of cartilage) and cell viability (%), (750 U/ml collagenase type II for 1 or 12 h incubation time, ). to 1 h of incubation. compared to without (w/o) physical agitation for the same incubation period ().

(a) Tissue harvest

(b) Tissue mincing

(c) Cell isolation

(d) Physical agitation