Figure 5From: Expression and regulation of neurotrophic and angiogenic factors during human intervertebral disc degenerationCytokine regulation of angiogenic factors VEGF and pleiotrophin in human nucleus pulposus cells, SH-SY5Y and HDMEC cells. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and pleiotrophin mRNA expression in human nucleus pulposus (NP) cells following stimulation with interleukin (IL)-1β (A), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFβ) (B) and IL-6 (C). VEGF and pleiotrophin mRNA expression in human NP cells following cytokine stimulation (D). Human dermal microvascular endothelial cells (HDMEC) cells did not express pleiotrophin mRNA, and cytokines nonsignificantly upregulated VEGF mRNA expression (E). *Statistical significance: P ≤ 0.05. GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase.Back to article page