Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 18 pp 9544—9560

Figure 4. The anti-inflammatory effect of hUC-MSCs-Exos was evaluated by co-culture system of macrophages and chondrocytes. (A) Graphical abstract of co-culture system of chondrocytes and macrophages. (B) The expressions of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-10 and ARG1 mRNA of macrophages were assayed by qRT-PCR. This experiment was repeated three times. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. (C) The expressions of COL2A1 and MMP13 mRNA of chondrocytes were assayed by qRT-PCR. This experiment was repeated three times. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. (D) Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect the protein expression of COL2A1 and MMP13 (green) in chondrocytes. Hoechst 33342 (blue) is utilized to stain the nucleus of chondrocytes. Scale bar=100 μm. (E) TUNEL (green) staining of chondrocytes. Hoechst 33342 (blue) is utilized to stain the nucleus of chondrocytes. Scale bar=100 μm.