Figure 1

Profiling aggrecanase gene expression relative to aggrecanolysis in resorbing cartilage. Bovine nasal cartilage chips were cultured in medium ± IL-1+OSM (1 and 10 ng/ml, respectively) for 14 days. At day 7, medium was removed and the cartilage replenished with identical reagents. Cartilage and medium were harvested at days 0, 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, and 14. Each time point and condition were performed in triplicate. As a measure of proteoglycan, the levels of GAG released into the media from unstimulated (control) and IL-1+OSM-stimulated cartilage were assayed; cumulative GAG release is shown (n = 3). RNA was extracted from the cartilage, and ADAMTS-1, -4, -5, -9, and -15 gene expression was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (n = 3) as described in Materials and methods. The data are presented relative to 18S. Values are the mean ± standard error of the mean. ◇ = control; ▲ = IL-1+OSM. ADAMTS, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain with thrombospondin motifs; GAG, glycosaminoglycan; IL-1, interleukin-1; OSM, oncostatin M.