Fig. 6.

Expression analyses in chondrogenically-induced hMSCs upon administration of rAAV vectors. hMSC aggregates were transduced with the various vectors or vector combinations as described in Fig. 1 and in Methods. Samples were processed after 21 days to monitor the gene expression profiles by real-time RT-PCR as described in Methods. The genes analyzed included the transcription factor SOX9, aggrecan (ACAN), type II collagen (COL2A1), type I collagen (COL1A1), and type X collagen (COL10A1), with GAPDH serving as a housekeeping gene and internal control. Threshold cycle (Ct) values were obtained for each target and GAPDH as a control for normalization, and fold inductions (relative to lacZ-treated pellets) were measured using the 2^–ΔΔCt method. *,^#Statistically significant compared with rAAV-lacZ (*P ≤0.050; ^# P ≤0.010). TGF-β transforming growth factor beta