About the Authors

Gudrun Walenda

Affiliation Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany

Khalid Abnaof

Affiliations Algorithmic Bioinformatics, Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany, Bioanalytical Resource Centre Aachen, Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

Sylvia Joussen

Affiliation Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany

Steffen Meurer

Affiliation Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany

Hubert Smeets

Affiliation Genetics and Molecular Cell Biology, CARIM School for Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Maastricht, Maastricht, Netherlands

Björn Rath

Affiliation Department for Orthopedics, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany

Kurt Hoffmann

Affiliation Bioanalytical Resource Centre Aachen, Institute for Molecular Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

Holger Fröhlich

Affiliation Algorithmic Bioinformatics, Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany

Martin Zenke

Affiliation Institute for Biomedical Technology, Department of Cell Biology, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany

Ralf Weiskirchen

Affiliation Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany

Wolfgang Wagner

wwagner@ukaachen.de

Affiliation Helmholtz-Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Stem Cell Biology and Cellular Engineering, RWTH Aachen University Medical School, Aachen, Germany

Competing Interests

Co-author Wolfgang Wagner is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: GW KH HF MZ RW WW. Performed the experiments: GW SJ HS. Analyzed the data: GW KA HF WW. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SM HS BR. Wrote the manuscript: GW WW.