Morphological, Immunocytochemical, and Biochemical Studies of Rat Costal Chondrocytes Exposed to IL-1β and TGF-β1

Abstract EN

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of IL-1β and TGF-β1 on the expression of differentiation-associated genes in chondrocytes in vitro.

Rat costal chondrocytes were exposed to different concentrations of IL-1β and TGF-β1 for 48 h and tested for gene expression.

IL-1β increased the expression of aggrecanase-1 and aggrecanase-2 and decreased the content of aggrecan and collagen II.

Low concentration of TGF-β1 decreased the expression of aggrecan and collagen II and increased the expression of aggrecanase-2.

However, the level of aggrecanase-1 was significantly elevated in the presence of high concentration of TGF-β1.

IL-1β and TGF-β1 show the ability to modulate the production of aggrecan and collagen II in chondrocytes in vitro.