Fig. 4

CRP promotes MMP-2 proteolytic activity in ADSCs. a RT-PCR analysis of MMP-2, MMP-9, MT2-MMP, MT3-MMP, TIMP-2, TIMP-3, and TIMP-4 gene transcription in ADSCs. Results are mean values ± SD of mRNA expression relative to GAPDH. b mRNA expression of MMPs and TIMPs quantified by RT-PCR after 24 hours of incubation with CRP (25 μg/ml) under serum-free conditions. Results given as the fold change in mRNA expression relative to untreated cells set as 1, *p < 0.05, versus control. c, e, f, g CRP significantly increased the gene and protein expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-2. d CRP induced MMP-2 proteolytic activity in ADSCs, but MMP-9 proteolytic activity was undetected. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 versus control; data represent mean ± SE (n = 3). Columns, mean; error bars, SEM. Results are representative of three independent experiments. MMP matrix metalloproteinase, TIMP tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase, CRP C-reactive protein