Research Article

OPN Deficiency Increases the Severity of Osteoarthritis Associated with Aberrant Chondrocyte Senescence and Apoptosis and Upregulates the Expression of Osteoarthritis-Associated Genes

Figure 1

Expressions of OPN and COL2A1 of the human OA chondrocytes and effects of OPN siRNA on the expression of osteoarthritis-associated genes. (a) The mRNA levels of OPN and COL2A1 in OA chondrocytes and in normal chondrocytes ( vs normal). (b) Western blot analysis was developed to evaluate the knockdown efficiency of OPN siRNA transfection. (c) Effects of OPN siRNA on the gene levels and protein levels of COL2A1, COL10A1, IL-1β, TNF-ɑ, MMP-13, and ADAMTS5 ( vs control or non-siRNA).