“…COMP is a major cartilaginous matrix molecule that is likely to be retained in the construct, even though it is secreted by chondrocytes and found in the synovial fluid as well (Recklies et al, 1998;Petersson et al, 1997). It is a shortcoming of this study that COMP retained in the scaffold was not determined, although the macroporous scaffold allows a passive exchange of the matrix proteins with the environment, and a constant release rate of synthesized molecules into the medium is expected (Grad et al, 2003a, b;Alini et al, 2003;Lee et al, 2003Lee et al, , 2005aWernike et al, 2008).…”