Fig. 4

Effects of BCL2L12 knockdown on IL-1β-induced apoptosis, inflammation, and cartilage ECM degradation. Chondrocyte cell line CHON-001 was transfected with si-BCL2L12 or si-NC, followed by IL-1β stimulation. a The expression of BCL2L12 was detected by reverse transcription quantitative PCR. b Cell viability was examined by CCK-8 assay. c Caspase-3 activity was analyzed using by commercial Caspase-3 Colorimetric Activity Assay Kit. d The release of TNF-α and IL-18 in supernatant of CHON-001 cells from different groups was determined by ELISA assay. Data were presented as mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, compared with si-NC; e The protein levels of BCL2L12, MMP-13, ADAMTS-5, ACAN, and COL2A1 were measured by Western blot assay