Source Data Figure 2 .xlsx

<b>b</b>, The integrated optical density (IOD) value for proteoglycan content determined by safranin O-fast green staining (n = 8 for each group; one-way ANOVA).<b> c,</b> Proteoglycan staining area (%) determined by safranin O-fast green staining (n = 8 for each group; 2 w, one-way ANOVA; 3 w, nonparametric test).<b> e</b>, The mRNA levels of anabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in OA cartilage explants analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) after BNTA treatment (0.1 μM) for 3 w (n = 5 for each group). proteoglycan 4 (<i>PRG4</i>), SRY-box 9 (<i>SOX9</i>), and interleukin 6 (<i>IL6</i>), unpaired two-tailed Student’s <i>t</i>-test; collagen type II alpha 1 chain (<i>COL2A1</i>), aggrecan<i> </i>(<i>ACAN</i>), heparan sulfate proteoglycan 2<i> </i>(<i>HSPG2</i>), and C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (<i>CCL2</i>), nonparametric test. <b>f</b>, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) and DNA content per wet weight was assessed by 1, 9-dimethylmethylene blue (DMMB) and Hoechst 33258 assays after vehicle or BNTA treatment for 2 w, separately (n = 6 for each group; nonparametric test). Data are shown as the mean ± standard deviation (s. d.). *<i>P</i> &lt; 0.05, **<i>P</i> &lt; 0.01, ***<i>P</i> &lt; 0.001.