Impact of tissue inhibitor of matrixmetalloprotease-1 (TIMP-1) protein on the proliferation and gene expression of rabbit Achilles tenocytes and rabbit adipose-derived stem cells in vitro

In order to know the effect of TIMP-1 on in vitro cell culture of rabbit Achilles tenocytes and rabbit adipose-derived stem cells, we assessed their proliferation with Alamar Blue® assay and furthermore report the effect on gene expression of Col1A1 (extracellular matrix marker collagen I), MKI67 (proliferation marker ki67), TNMD (tenomodulin) and ALP (alkaline phosphatase, a marker for early osteogenesis), respectively, the latter because TIMP-1 has been reported to affect stem cell fate towards osteogenic commitment. As reference gene, 18S was utilized.
These experiments have been performed at different concentrations of TIMP-1 supplementation; i.e. at 1, 10, and 100 ng/mL TIMP-1. The same experiment without TIMP-1 served as control.