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. 2022 Mar 14;9:835976. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.835976

FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 4

Effects of Norm-NPC-Exo and TNFα-NPC-Exo on ECM metabolism of CEPCs. (A) CEPCs were treated with 20 μg/ml Norm-NPC-Exo and TNFα-NPC-Exo for 24 h. Representative images of immunofluorescence of aggrecan, collagen II and MMP-3 in CEPCs photographed by fluorescence microscopy (scale bar = 100 μm). (B) Semi-quantitative analysis of aggrecan, collagen II, and MMP-3 fluorescence intensity (n = 3). Compared with the control and Norm-NPC-Exo group, the expression of aggrecan and collagen II in CEPC cytoplasm was significantly decreased at TNFα-NPC-Exo group, while the expression of MMP-3 was significantly increased. (C) The expression levels of aggrecan, collagen II and MMP-3 were analyzed by qRT-PCR in CEPCs. Aggrecan and collagen II expression were significantly decreased following TNFα-NPC-Exo treatment, while MMP-3 expression was significantly increased. All results are representative of at least three independent experiments and each value is the mean ± s.d. of three determinations. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.