Figure 1

Experimental setup. Medium of subconfluent normal (healthy) donor synovial fibroblasts (NDSFs) and rheumatoid arthritis synovial fibroblasts (RASFs) was conditioned for 48 hours. RASFs were incubated for 48 hours with medium containing a 20% inhibitory concentration of antirheumatic drugs. Cartilage-like alginate beads (n = 6 donors) were stimulated for 48 hours with conditioned supernatant of untreated RASFs, untreated NDSFs, and drug-treated RASFs, respectively. Following interactive cultivation, isolation of total RNA was performed and chondrocyte supernatants were collected. Genome-wide expression profiling, real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analysis were performed. 3D, three-dimensional; SF, synovial fibroblast.