Figure 3.

IGFBP5 exerts its effects by inhibiting the ERK signalling pathway. A, The NP cells in each group were transfected and showed high transfection efficiency; ***P < 0.001 compared with the normal control. B and C, The overexpression of IGFBP5 inhibited ERK signalling pathways in NP cells. qRT‐PCR and Western blot analyses demonstrated that IGFBP5 overexpression led to decreases in ERK, pERK, Bax and caspase‐3; ***P < 0.001 compared with the normal control. In NP cells treated with IGFBP5‐shRNA, the expression levels of ERK, pERK, Bax and caspase‐3 were significantly increased, while the level of Bcl2 was decreased; ***P < 0.001 compared with the normal control. The values are presented as the mean ± SD. NP, nucleus pulposus