Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 6 pp 5152—5167

Figure 7. PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway activation was associated with the chondrocyte-specific degradation caused by IL-18 stimulation. Chondrocytes of the IL-18 + 30 μM 740Y-P solution (or 14 μM SC79 solution or 120 μM 3BDO solution or 50 μM LY294002 solution or DMSO) treatment group were pre-treated with 740Y-P (or SC79 or 3BDO or LY294002 or DMSO) for 1 h, followed with 24 h IL-18 stimulation (100 ng/ml). The inhibitors and activator were all dissolved in DMSO, and the concentration of DMSO in all experimental groups was consistently lower than 0.1%. Protein levels of Collagen II (B), Sox9 (C), Aggrecan (D), and GAPDH as an internal control, evaluated by Western blot (A). The values are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). Significance was calculated by a one-way ANOVA with a post hoc Tukey's multiple comparisons test. *p<0.05 versus the IL-18 + DMSO treatment group.