Figure 6.

Mouse lumbar IVD samples were cultured in vitro in the presence or absence of COX-2 inhibitor Celecoxib for 7 days. Histological examination showed that Celecoxib treatment did not cause evident changes in the morphology of cultured IVD (A, B). However, IHC analysis demonstrated that Celecoxib significantly suppressed COX-2 expression (C, D). In addition, Celecoxib increased the protein expression of both Shh (E, F) and Noggin (G, H), and inhibited Smad1 phosphorylation in IVD and EP (I, J). In addition, Celecoxib treatment increased Shh and Noggin expression and decreased pSmad1 expression in patients’ endplate chondrocyte in relative to vehicle, as revealed by RT-PCR assay (K). *, P < 0.05. Error bars, S.D.