Modulation of osteoarthritis-related microRNAs using locked nucleic acid-antisense oligonucleotides boosts chondrogenic lineage commitment of mesenchymal progenitors

Figure 3 Gene expression in micromasses after transient anti-miR treatment. A-D: Rat bone-marrow mesenchymal stem cells were transfected with single or combined locked nucleic acid-antisense oligonucleotides microRNA inhibitors, induced to form micromasses, and harvested on day 11 for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Sox9 (A) and Acan (B) (chondrogenic markers). Runx2 (C) and Mef2C (D) (hypertrophic markers). Expression was normalised to Gapdh and calculated as 2^-ΔΔCt relative to the power inhibitor control. Bars show mean ± SEM (n = 3 independent experiments). Statistical comparisons vs power inhibitor by two-tailed Student’s t-test; ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.005.