Figure 4.

Expression of intervertebral disc and major bone marker and BMP antagonist genes in annulus fibrosus (AFC), nucleus pulposus (NPC) and cartilaginous endplate cells (CEPC) seeded in alginate beads and cultivated for 21 days in co-culture with human primary osteoblasts and stimulated with osteogenic medium. Data are presented as min to max with median and all data points. Gene expression was normalized to day 0 cells of the specific cell type. Significance was tested against day 0 cells. Students t-test, * p-value < 0.05, N = 4.