Effects of TUG1 silencing on cell proliferation, apoptosis and ECM degradation were abrogated by miR-320c inhibitor or FUT4 overexpression in IL-1β-stimulated C28/I2 cells. (a) The association between TUG1 and FUT4 was analyzed via Spearman’s correlation analysis. (b–g) si-NC, si-TUG1, si-TUG1 + anti-miR-NC, si-TUG1 + anti-miR-320c, si-TUG1 + pcDNA or si-TUG1 + pcDNA-FUT4 was introduced into IL-1β-induced C28/I2 cells. (b and c) The mRNA level and protein expression were measured by qRT-PCR and Western blot assays, respectively. (d) MTT assay was performed to estimate cell viability in vitro. (e) The apoptotic rate was measured by flow cytometry. (f and g) The relative proteins of cyclin D1, cleaved-casp-3, MMP-13, collage II and Aggrecan were determined using Western blot. *P < 0.05.