Fig. 5

Exo-Gel suppressed IL-1β-triggered chondrocyte apoptosis in vitro. A In vitro investigate the effect of Exo-Gel on apoptosis of chondrocytes treated with IL-1β (10 ng/ml) for 24 h. TUNEL (green) staining to analyze chondrocyte apoptosis, DAPI (blue) staining for cell nuclei (bar = 200 μm). B Quantitative assessment of the proportion of apoptotic cells in A. Data are expressed as means ± SEM (n = 6). C Annexin V/FITC/PI double-staining flow cytometry to detect the effect of Exo-Gel coincubated medium on IL-1β-triggered chondrocyte apoptosis. D Quantification of apoptotic cells (Annexin V-positive) in C. Data are expressed as means ± SEM (n = 4). E Representative Western blots of cleaved-Cas3, Bcl-2, and Bax expression in chondrocytes in different groups. F Quantification of cleaved-Cas3 protein expression and the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax in chondrocyte in E. GAPDH was used as loading control. Data are expressed as means ± SEM (n = 3). *p < 0.05