Figure 5.

Microtubule network damage influences the visfatin catabolic effect on COX2 upregulation in human primary chondrocytes. Human primary chondrocytes were pretreated with DMSO, phalloidin (microfilament stabilizer, 3 μM), or paclitaxel (microtubule stabilizer, 1 μM) for 1 h and then kept as controls (CL) or treated with 5 μg/mL of visfatin (Vis) for 8 h. COX2 expression and GSK3β-Ser9 phosphorylation in human primary chondrocytes were analyzed by Western blot. Results are representative of three independent experiments with similar results. Statistic data are mean ± SEM from three independent experiments. *, p < 0.05 vs. DMSO-CL-treated cells. #, p < 0.05 vs. DMSO-visfatin (Vis)-stimulated cells.