Figure 4.

Clock gene expression in human adult stem cells following mechanical rhythmic stimulation paradigm. (a) Schematic diagram showing the setup of the mechanical stretch apparatus; cells were seeded into silicone chambers and stretched for 3 days using a unique uniaxial stretch rig with offset cams (1 Hz, 6.66% stretch, 12 h ON (stretch), 12 h OFF (rest)). (b) Quantitative RT-PCR analyses showing the expression levels of clock genes at two opposite circadian phases (20 h versus 32 h) following rhythmic mechanical stimulation protocol. Data are expressed as the mean of ΔCt ± SEM relative to the 20 h time point and normalised against the housekeeping gene GAPDH. Bars represent means ± SEM of 3 independent experiments, ^∗p < 0.05 (independent t-test).