Fig. 4

Effects of AA on chondrogenic marker expression of chondrocytes. The cells were treated with or without AA (5 μM) for 3 days. a Representative immunofluorescence images of ACAN (yellow), COL-II (green), and SOX9 (red). Nucleus was stained with DAPI (blue). b The RFU analysis of ACAN, COL-II, and SOX9. Unpaired t test; ns, not significant. c Relative mRNA expression of ACAN, COL2a1, and SOX9. Unpaired t test, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. d Representative western blot of ACAN, COL-II, and SOX9. GAPDH was served as a loading control. e Representative Alcian Blue staining of human OA chondrocytes. Each experiment was repeated three times