Figure 4.

Effects of IL-1β on the expression of ADAMTS enzymes and TIMP-3 in human nucleus pulposus cells. The mRNA levels and protein expression was measured by qPCR and western blot analysis for (A) ADAMTS-4, (B) ADAMTS-5 and (C) TIMP-3 with IL-1β treatment at a concentration of 10.0 ng/ml. ^*P<0.05 and ^**P<0.01 compared with control. IL-1β, interleukin-1β; ADAMTS, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs; TIMP-3, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase.