Research Paper Volume 11, Issue 16 pp 6014—6028

Figure 4. Suppression of miR-146b inhibits IL-1β-induced apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation in chondrocytes by upregulating A₂M expression. (A) Cell viability, (B) Cell apoptosis and (C–F) The expression of apoptosis-related and catabolic event proteins were detected by CCK8 assay, flow cytometry and western blot. (G) mRNA levels of chondrocytes catabolic event markers (MMP3 and MMP13), articular chondrocyte marker (Collagen II and Aggrecan) were tested by qRT-PCR. The concentrations of (H) MMP3 and MMP13 in the culture supernatant were measured by ELISA. *P<0.05.