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Figure 6 | Arthritis Research & Therapy

Figure 6

From: Enhanced expression of mRNA for nuclear factor κB1 (p50) in CD34+ cells of the bone marrow in rheumatoid arthritis

Figure 6

Comparison of the expression of nuclear factor (NF)κB1 (p50) mRNA in bone marrow CD34+ cells with their capacity to differentiate into fibroblast-like cells. The expression of NFκB1 mRNA in bone marrow CD34+ cells from 12 rheumatoid arthritis patients was evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR prior to the culture. The bone marrow CD34+ cells were incubated in culture medium with stem cell factor (10 ng/ml), granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (1 ng/ml) and tumor necrosis factor-α (10 ng/ml) for 4 weeks with no medium changes. Morphological changes were evaluated under light microscopy. The percentages of fibroblast-like cells were calculated from two view fields at ×20 magnifications. The degree of the generation of fibroblast-like cells were scored as follows: 0, fibroblast-like cells <5%; 1, fibroblast-like cells 5% to 25%; 2, fibroblast-like cells 25% to 50%; 3, fibroblast-like cells >50%; 4, formation of a pile or a cluster in at least one view field. Statistical significance was evaluated by Spearman's rank correlation test.

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