FIGURE 7.

SDC4 and ADAMTS-4/5 mRNA expression in human degenerate NP and AF tissues. A, representative MRI images of patients with degenerative disc disease. (From left, Grade II,III,IV,V). B–E, real-time RT-PCR analysis of SDC4 (B and C) and ADAMTS4/5 (D and E) mRNA expression in multiple human NP (B and D) and AF (C and E) tissue samples. Samples from multiple different patients were used for each degenerative grade. Compared with normal control, with increasing disc degeneration there is a relative increase in the expression of SDC4 and ADAMTS mRNA. Mean expression of normal controls (c) was set at 1.0 and shown by a horizontal line.