Figure 9From: Expression of ADAM15 in rheumatoid synovium: up-regulation by vascular endothelial growth factor and possible implications for angiogenesisEffects of cytokines and growth factors on expression of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs). The mRNA expression of the VEGFRs was examined by RT-PCR at 30 cycles as described in Materials and methods. (a) The expression of VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and neuropilin-1 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) synovial fibroblasts (SFs) of different passages and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Lanes 1 to 5 correspond to RA SFs of passages 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, respectively. (b) The mRNA expression of VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and neuropilin-1 in RA SFs after 24 h stimulation with tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α (0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 50 ng/ml), IL-1α (0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 50 ng/ml) or transforming growth factor (TGF)-β (0, 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 ng/ml). Note that TNF-α selectively induces the mRNA expression of VEGFR-2 in RA SFs.Back to article page