Fig. 7

Enriched miR-146b-5p in F-MSCs-Exo inhibits PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway by targeting TRAF6. (A, B) Western blot analysis was performed to detect the impact of F-MSCs-Exo on TRAF6 and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in rat chondrocytes. (C, D) The expression of TRAF6 was quantitatively analyzed using immunofluorescence staining and ImageJ software (scale bar = 10 μm). (E, F) Direct visualization of chondrocytes treated with nc-inhibitor and miR-146b-5p-inhibitor was performed using Alcian blue staining and safranin staining. (G, H) Western blot analysis was conducted to examine the expressions of TRAF6 and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway in chondrocytes after treatment with nc-inhibitor and miR-146b-5p-inhibitor. (ns, no significant difference; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; n = 3)