Figure 1. Chondroitin sulfate regulates palatal fibroblast adhesion and proliferation. (A) Degradation of chondroitin sulfate by the addition of 0.1 unit/mL chondroitinase ABC to the culture medium for 8 hrs results in a decrease in the number of adherent cells (Student’s t test; p = 0.0076). (B) Conversely, supplementation of the culture medium with chondroitin-6-sulfate for the same time period leads to a dose-dependent increase in cell adhesion (one-way ANOVA; p < 0.0001). (C) In the cell proliferation assay, statistical comparison by one-way ANOVA shows that palatal fibroblasts cultured in the presence of chondroitin-6-sulfate over a seven-day period show a dose-dependent increase in cell numbers (p < 0.0001). Values represent mean ± SEM of 3 experiments.