Figure 2.

Gene expression profile in IVD cells treated with fHAs. Human IVD cells were incubated for 18 hours with hyaluronic acid fragments (fHAs) at either 5 or 20 μg/ml (n = 4 to 6) and RNA harvested for analysis by qRT-PCR. Values were normalized to TATA-Box binding protein (TBP) mRNA and expressed as 2^-ΔCT. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance for multiple group comparisons followed by the Mann-Whitney U test for comparisons between two groups, * P <0.05, ** P <0.01 as compared to untreated IVD cells. IL, interleukin; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; MMP, matrix metalloproteinase; COX, cyclooxygenase; ADAMTS, A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase with Thrombospondin Motifs.