Figure 6.

Effect of NT and CT telopeptides and dynamic compression (15%, 1 Hz) on gene expression. Unstrained and strained constructs were cultured with either NT or CT peptide (both 50 μM) and/or 1400 W (1 mM) for 6 or 48 hours, respectively: (a and b) MMP-3 (c and d) and MMP-13 (n = 8). SN and SC peptides (50 μM) were used as negative controls. NH₂-FN-f (1 μM) was used as a positive control. (*) indicates significant comparisons in unstrained constructs for no treatment vs fragment; (ψ) indicates significant comparisons in unstrained constructs for fragment vs fragment + 1400 W; + P < 0.05, ++ P < 0.01, +++ P < 0.001 indicates significant comparisons between treatment conditions as shown (n = 8).