Fig 6. Type I collagen production is down-regulated by dynamic culture.

(a) Representative WB analysis of type II and type I collagen after 21 days in static or dynamic conditions (program 2) in the presence of BIT. The positions of mature collagen chains (mature), unprocessed (pro) or processing intermediates of the procollagen containing the aminopropetide (pN) or the carboxypropetide (pC) are indicated. The upper band represents dimers (β) of collagen molecules. Actin bands are shown as a control for equivalent loading of the extracts. Please note that because type I collagen was more abundantly produced in static conditions, bands are smeared. (b) Quantification of type I collagen and of type II/type I collagen ratio through the densitometric analysis of WB data. Total type I and total type II collagen (i.e. the unprocessed chains, the processing intermediates of the procollagen, and the mature collagen chains) were normalized to actin. The values given in the dot plots represent single data points with mean (n = 6, a: p < 0.05).