Figure 5.

Effects of MSCs on the expression of MAPK and NF-κB pathway-associated proteins in rat chondrocytes incubated with IL-1β. The groups represent chondrocytes without treatment (con) and chondrocytes cultured with (IL+MSCs) or without (IL) MSC-conditioned medium for 15 min (for analysis of IκBα and NF-κB p65) or 30 min (for ERK1/2, JNK and p38 analysis) following incubation with 10 ng/ml IL-1β for 24 h, respectively. Protein expression was analyzed by western blotting and quantified by densitometry. Histograms represent the mean of values relative to the maximum value. Experiments were performed in triplicate and the bands shown represent typical results. Data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation. ^*P<0.05 vs. control group; ^#P<0.05 vs. IL group. IL-1β, interleukin-1β; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; NF-κB, nuclear factor κB, p-, phosphorylated; ERK1/2, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2; JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase; IκBα, inhibitory-κ-B-α.