Figure 2

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) tendon marker gene expression as a function of growth factor treatments and loading. MSC gene expression on day (D)3 of treatment with combinations of mechanical loading (L), transforming growth factor (TGF)β2 (T), and fibroblast growth factor-(FGF)4 (F). Dashed horizontal line = 1 indicates control condition. (A) Scleraxis (Scx) was significantly downregulated by FGF4 and FGF4 + loading, and upregulated by TGFβ2 and TGFβ2 + loading. (B) TGFβ2 was significantly downregulated by all treatments involving FGF4. (C) All treatments except loading significantly downregulated tenomodulin (Tnmd). (D) Collagen type I (Col I) was significantly downregulated by FGF4 and FGF4 + loading, while all treatments involving TGFβ2 caused Col I to trend up (P ≥ 0.06). (E) Elastin (Eln) was significantly downregulated by all treatments. ↑ or ↓ indicates statistically significant up- or downregulation, respectively; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001.