Fig. 3

Gene expression in synovial micromasses after stimulation with LPS and TNF-α in the absence or presence of IL-10. Micromasses from synovial cell suspensions (three per group) were cultured until lining formation was evident. Subsequently, the micromasses were stimulated for 2 h or 4 h with medium containing 100 ng/ml LPS, 10 ng/ml TNF-α, 10 ng/ml IL-1β in the absence and presence of 10 ng/ml IL-10. Gene expression levels of SOCS3 at 2 h (a), TNF-α at 4 h (b), IL-1β at 4 h (c) and IL-6 at 4 h (d) were measured. Expression levels are depicted as threshold cycle (Ct) +/- SD, corrected for GAPDH expression. Statistical comparison within stimulation groups was performed by two-way ANOVA and between groups by one-way ANOVA. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. IL-1β interleukin-1 beta, IL-6 interleukin-6, LPS lipopolysaccharide, SOCS3 suppressor of cytokine signaling 3, TNF-α tumour necrosis factor alpha