Fig. 5.

FLS grown in 3-D micromass organ cultures can be activated by IL-1β and are susceptible to NaHS treatment. FLS from 3 patients were used to create a total of 27 micromass cultures—9 cultures per patient performed in triplicates—which were then treated with either PBS (n = 9), IL-1β (n = 9) or IL-1β + NaHS (n = 9) on day 3, 7, 10, 13 and 15. After 17 days, 3-D cultures were fixed, sectioned and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Representative cultures of one patient treated with (A) PBS, (B) IL-1β or (C) NaHS + IL-1β are shown. Original magnification ×1000. (D) Quantification of lining layer thickness in 27 micromasses using Osteomeasure software. (D) **P < 0.01.