Low Magnitude of Compression Enhances Biosynthesis of Mesenchymal Stem Cells towards Nucleus Pulposus Cells via the TRPV4-Dependent Pathway

Figure 6

Activation of TRPV4 enhanced biosynthesis analogous to low-magnitude compression. Measurement of the biochemical compositions, including (a) GAG content and (b) HYP content treated with GSK101, the TRPV4 agonist, during different magnitudes of compressive stress. The hybrids that were not treated with GSK101 were used as control. (c) Western blot analysis of ECM proteins aggrecan and type II collagen produced by MSCs cultured in the hydrogels treated with GSK101 during free swelling and compressive loading at magnitude of 5%, 10%, and 20%. The hybrids that were not treated with GSK101 were used as control. (d–e) The histogram of quantitative results of Western blot analysis. Data were normalized to the data obtained from MSCs cultured in the hydrogel only treated with free swelling and evaluated on a relative basis for comparison between different samples. Data were expressed as means ± SD (). .

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