Table 1.

Sequence of primers used for conventional RT-PCR

Gene	Primer sequence	Product size (bp)
Oct4	Oct4F: 5′-CGRGAAGCTGGAGAAGGAGAAGCTG-3′	247 (55°C)
	Oct4R: 5′-AAGGGCCGCAGCTTACACATGTTC-3′
Rex1	Rex1F: 5′-GCTGACCACCAGCACACTAGGC-3′	298 (55°C)
	Rex1R: 5′-TTTCTGGTGTCTTGTCTTTGCCCG-3′
Col 2A1	Col2F: 5′-TTCAGCTATGGAGATGACAATC-3′	472
	Col2R: 5′-AGAGTCCTAGAGTGACTGAG-3′
Col2AB	Col2AB-F: 5′-CTG CTC GTC GCC GCT GTC CTT-3′	432bp (splice variant A
	Col2AB-R: 5′-AAG GGT CCC AGG TTC TCC ATC-3′	225 bp (splice variant B)
Decorin	DecoF:5′-CCTTTGGTGAAGTTGGAACG-3′	300 (55°C)
	DecoR:5′-AAGATGTAATTCCGTAAGGG-3′
Biglycan	BiglyF:5′-TGCAGAACAACGACATCTCC-3′	475
	BiglyR: 5′-AGCTTGGAGTAGCGAAGCAG-3′
COMP	COMP-F: 5′-CAACTGTCCCCAGAAGAGCAA-3′	588
	COMP-R: 5′-TGGTAGCCAAAGATGAAGCCC-3′
Col 9A1	Col9-F: 5′-ACAGCAGGACTCCCTGGA-3′	410
	Col9-R: 5′-TGATCACCAGGTGCACCAG-3′
Link protein	LPF: 5′-CCTATGATGAAGCGGTGC-3′	618
	LPR: 5′-TTGTGCTTGTGGAACCTG-3′
CD44s	CD44F: 5′-TCCATCAAAGGCATTGGGCAG-3′	326 (56°C)
	CD44R: 5′-AACCTGCCGCTTTGCAGGTGT-3′
PDGFR·	PDGFR-·F: 5′-ATCAATCAGCCCAGATGGAC-3′	891 (60°C)
	PDGFR-·R: 5′-TTCACGGGCAGAAAGGTACT-3′
NFH	NFH-F: 5′- TGAACACAGACGCTATGCGCTCAG-3′	398 (56°C)
	NFH-R: 5′- CACCTTTATGTGAGTGGACACAGAG-3′
cK14	K14F: 5′-ATGATTGGCAGCGTGGAG-3′	390
	K14R: 5′-GTCCAGCTGTGAAGTGCTTG-3′
AFP	AFPF: 5′-CCATGTACATGAGCACTGTTG-3′	338 (55°C)
	AFPR: 5′-CTCCAATAACTCCTGGTATCC-3′
VEGFR2	VEGFR2F: 5′-AAAACCTTTTGTTGCTTTTTGA-3′	237 (55°C)
	VEGFR2R: 5′-GAAATGGGATTGGTAAGGATGA-3′
Cbfa1	Cbfa1F: 5′-CGGAATGCCTCTGCTGTTAT-3′	174
	Cbfa1R: 5′-TTCCCGAGGTCCATCTACTG-3′
Osteocalcin	OC-F: 5′-ATGAGAGCCCTCACACTCCTC-3′	294
	OC-R: 5′-GCCGTAGAAGCGCCGATAGGC-3′
β-actin	β-ActinF: 5′-CCAAGGCCAACCGCGAGAAGATGAC-3′	587
	β-ActinR: 5′-AGGGTACATGGTGGTGCCGCCAGAC-3′

All primers except PDGFRα, NFH and β-actin (mouse/human) are human-specific. The PCR conditions were as follows: 95°C/5 min., 95°C/30 sec., 58°C/45 sec. (except where specified otherwise), 72°C/1 min., and 72°C/5 min.