TNF-α Induced the Enhanced Apoptosis of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Ankylosing Spondylitis by Overexpressing TRAIL-R2

Figure 6

Lentiviruses encoding shRNA-TRAIL-R2 partly inhibited the apoptosis of ASMSCs while having a limited effect on the apoptosis of HDMSCs. (a) The rate of ASMSC apoptosis () was decreased after Lv-TRAIL-R2 transduction, while no apparent changes were found for HDMSCs (). (b) In ASMSCs (), Lv-TRAIL-R2 reduced FADD and total caspase-8 expression while having a limited effect on total caspase-3 and total cytochrome C gene expression. In HDMSCs (), Lv-TRAIL-R2 had a limited effect on the expression of all four genes. (c) Lv-TRAIL-R2 did not affect the protein levels of cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-8, FADD, or cytosolic cytochrome C in HDMSCs () but reduced them in ASMSCs (). Values are presented as the mean ± SD. indicates between HDMSCs and ASMSCs. & indicates for the TNF-α/CHX group compared with other HDMSC groups. indicates for the TNF-α/CHX group compared with other ASMSC groups. Lv-NC refers to MSCs transduced by lentiviruses encoding a negative control sequence. Lv-TRAIL-R2 refers to MSCs transduced by lentiviruses encoding TRAIL-R2.