*4.2. Cultivation of hMSC*

Bone marrow derived hMSC harvested from the iliac crest of two healthy donors were kindly provided by the group of Prof. Martin Bornhäuser (Medical Clinic I, University Hospital Dresden). Written informed consent from the donors was obtained for the use of these samples in research. Cells were characterized as hMSC according to the criteria of the International Society of Cellular Therapy [39]. All procedures were approved by the Ethical Commission of the Medical Faculty of Technische Universität Dresden. Cells were expanded in Dulbecco s modified Eagle s Medium (DMEM, Gibco) supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum, 2 mM L-glutamine, 100 U/mL penicillin and 100 μg/mL streptomycin (all from Biochrom, Berlin, Germany) (expansion medium) until passage five.

General seeding preparation for porous collagen scaffolds: Scaffolds were immersed with expansion medium for 24 h, which was removed before seeding wet scaffolds were placed on sterile filter paper to remove excess immersion medium from the scaffold pores.
