Fig. 5

The effects of honokiol on expressions of Caspase-3, SOX-9, Aggrecan, Col2α1, MMP-1, MMP-9, MMP-13 and COX-2. 2nd passage hUC-MSCs were cultured in pellets with chondrogenic medium, cells were treated with IL-1β (10 ng/ml) and honokiol (25 μM). After 2 weeks, Gene expression was evaluated by qRT-PCR. a: SOX-9, b: Aggrecan, c: Col2α1, d: MMP-1, e: MMP-9, f: MMP-13, g: COX-2. Data was analyzed by using the 2^-ΔΔCT method. All results were presented as mean ± SD (n = 9); p* < 0.01 versus control; p# < 0.01 versus IL-1β alone (10 ng/ml IL-1β without honokiol)