Figure 2.

Protein-I/II-induced release of pro-matrix metalloproteinase (pro-MMP-3) from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) and osteoarthritis (OA) FLSs. The level of pro-MMP-3 was determined in culture supernatants from control RA FLSs stimulated for 18 hours with protein I/II (n = 3) and OA FLSs (n = 3), using heterologous two-site sandwich ELISA. ELISA was performed in duplicate. Experiments were performed in duplicate. Values are expressed as means ± standard error of the mean. Statistical comparison of protein-I/II-stimulated and control samples was performed using the t-test (**P < 0.01; NS, not significant).