Follistatin-Like 1 Attenuation Suppresses Intervertebral Disc Degeneration in Mice through Interacting with TNF-α and Smad Signaling Pathway

Figure 5

Knockdown of FSTL-1 reduced TNF-α-induced inflammatory cytokines in vitro. (a–e) Western blot and grey value analysis of iNOS, COX-2, MMP-13, and ADAMTS-5 in nucleus pulposus cells from WT and FSTL-1+/- mice after stimulation with 10 ng/ml TNF-α. (f–i) The mRNA levels of iNOS, COX-2, MMP-13, and ADAMTS-5 in nucleus pulposus cells from WT and FSTL-1+/- mice after stimulation with 10 ng/ml TNF-α were determined by RT-PCR. (j, l) The expression of COX-2 and ADAMTS-5 in nucleus pulposus cells after stimulation with 10 ng/ml TNF-α was detected by immunofluorescence analysis. . (k, m) Analysis of the mean fluorescence intensity of COX-2 and ADAMTS-5 according to the immunofluorescence results. The values are the of at least 3 independent experiments; , .

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

(i)

(j)

(k)

(l)

(m)