Figure 2.

Effects of unstimulated and HMW/MMW adiponectin-stimulated RA-ASCs on RA-FLS function. RA-FLS were cultured either in conditioned media (CM) collected from RA-ASCs (a) or in the presence of RA-ASCs (b). For coculture experiments, unstimulated ASCs (+Ctrl-ASCs) or ASCs stimulated with 10 μg/mL of HMW/MMW adiponectin (+H/M-ASCs) were used, whereas CM from respective cultures of unstimulated (Ctrl-CM) and stimulated (H/M-CM) ASCs were added to FLS. RA-FLS cultured separately (DMEM/F12) served as a control. Proliferation of cells was determined by BrdU incorporation assay. Absorbency of samples was measured at 450 nm (A ₄₅₀). IL-6 was detected by specific ELISA test. (a) The effects of ASC-CM on RA-FLS proliferation (n = 14) and IL-6 secretion (n = 17). (b) Proliferation (n = 6) and IL-6 (n = 9) secretion in ASCs-FLS cocultures. Expected: the sum of the values obtained for separate FLS and ASCs cultures; obtained: real values stated in the cocultures. Asterisks (∗) indicate statistically significant differences versus DMEM/F12; hash marks (#) indicate statistically significant differences between indicated data or between expected and obtained values; ^∗∗/## p < 0.01; N.S.: nonsignificant.