Figure 4From: Ossification process involving the human thoracic ligamentum flavum: role of transcription factors Morphologic findings of cultured cells and relative expression levels of mRNA of transcriptional factors. Cultured cells in OLF (a) and control (b) showed spindle shape (scale bar = 100 μm). RT-PCR analysis of the ossified and nonossified cultured ligament cells showed that the mRNA expression levels of Sox9, Runx2, Msx2, and AP-1 in OLF were significantly different from those of the control (c). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM values of six samples each. Differences between the two groups were examined with the Student t test. *P < 0.05, compared with the control. mRNA, messenger RNA; OLF, ossification of the ligamentum flavum; RT-PCR, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.Back to article page