Effect of Static Load on the Nucleus Pulposus of Rabbit Intervertebral Disc Motion Segment in an Organ Culture

Figure 5

Relative expression quantified by real-time PCR. An obvious downregulation of Agg was observed under static load during culture compared with fresh tissue, whereas an upregulation of COL2A1 was observed in response to static load by 3 days, and the expression of this gene subsequently decreased until day 14 to below detectable levels. The values represent the means ± SDs normalized to fresh tissue. versus day 0; versus day 3. PCR: polymerase chain reaction; Agg: aggrecan; COL2A1: collagen type II; SDs: standard deviations.