Fig. 3.

hDPSCs suppress osteoarthritic macrophages partially by secreting HGF and TGF-β1. In the current study, the expression levels of CD11b and CD86 were significantly reverted but the expression level of CD206 were remarkably abolished by direct supplementation with anti-TGF-β1 (200 ng/ml) or anti-HGF (200 ng/ml) neutralizing antibodies in the presence of hDPSCs (hDPSCs to osteoarthritic macrophage, 1:10) (a, b). In addition, the mRNA and secretion level of TNF-α and IL-12b increased and that of IL-10 decreased (mRNA expression in c and protein secretion in d), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01,***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001. hDPSCs, human dental pulp stem cells; TGF-β1, transforming grow factor beta 1; HGF, hepatocyte growth factor; IL-12b, interleukin 12; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor α; IL-10, interleukin 10