Fig. 5.

TRPV4 activation suppresses IL-1β induced NO release, matrix degradation and loss of mechanical properties in cartilage explants. Full-depth cartilage explants were treated with the TRPV4 agonist GSK101 (0, 1, 10 nM) in the presence or absence of 1 ng/ml IL-1β for 12 d. The nitrite (A) and sGAG (B) content of the culture media was measured and normalised to wet weight. Cartilage explants were compressed to obtain the stress–strain (C) and stress-relaxation (D) plots, for the calculation of cartilage mechanical properties. The responding mechanical properties of tangent modulus from 18 to 20% compression (E), relaxation modulus (F), percentage relaxation (G) and half-life (H). Data represents mean ± SD, n = 6–12 explants from 4 different donors. Statistics: Two-way ANOVA with post hoc Tukey's test. # represents statistically significant difference between IL-1β treated and corresponding untreated cells.