Fig. 6.

qRT-PCR analysis of the catabolic and anabolic gene expression in chondrocytes. Bovine articular chondrocytes cultured in DMEM-F12 medium supplemented with 10% FBS, 1× antibiotic-antimycotic solution and 50 μg/ml L-ascorbic acid at an initial seeding density of 2 × 10⁵ cells/well were subjected to cytokine treatment (n = 3) followed by cLIUS stimulation at 14 kPa (5 MHz, 2.5 Vpp) for 5 min. Non-cLIUS-stimulated explants served as controls (n = 3). Homogenates from 2 wells per group served as one replicate and 3 such replicates were used for analysis (n = 3). Total RNA was extracted and the gene expression of (a) MMP13, (b) ADAMTS4, (c) NF-κB, (d) Collagen II and (e) TIMP1 was evaluated by qRT-PCR. Bar graph represents mean ± 95% confidence interval, p values indicate statistically significant differences and n.s represents non-significant differences