Research Article

Age-Related Changes in Nucleus Pulposus Mesenchymal Stem Cells: An In Vitro Study in Rats

Figure 8

The mRNA expression levels of target genes in NPMSCs analyzed by real-time PCR (). (a) Increased expressions of p53, p21, and p16 were observed in old NPMSCs relative to young NPMSCs. In particular, old NPMSCs expressed significantly higher p53 and p21 than young NPMSCs. (b) Compared with old NPMSCs, young NPMSCs had significantly higher expression levels of collagen-II, aggrecan, and Sox-9. The level of mRNA expression was normalized and graphed relative to β-actin. The data are expressed as means ± SD. indicates .
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