Figure 1.

Glucocorticoid (GC)-priming effect on transgene expression. Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) exhibit increased luciferase expression when primed with dexamethasone (DEX) or cortisol in a dose-dependent manor. Error bars represent standard error of the mean for triplicate wells collected on duplicate days. (a) hMSCs primed with DEX exhibit the highest transgene expression in response to 1.2E⁻⁷ mol/l DEX with an 8- to 13-fold increase in luciferase expression at the optimum dose compared to basal media (BM) alone or with the vehicle control (EtOH). (b) Similarly, hMSCs primed with cortisol exhibit an 8- to 15-fold increase in luciferase expression when compared to unprimed cells (BM and EtOH) with the optimal cortisol dose of 7.2E⁻⁷ mol/l.