Figure 1

FTY720-P reduces cytokine-induced iNOS expression. (A) iNOS mRNA was quantified by real-time PCR after 3 h of treatment of chondrocytes grown in monolayer with the indicated concentrations of FTY720-P in combination with 10 ng/ml IL-1β or 100 ng/ml TNF-α. Values were normalized to GAPDH and are presented as percentage of iNOS expression induced by cytokine treatment. Data are means ± SEM of 3 independent experiments. *P < 0.05 versus cytokine treated vehicle control. (B) Representative Western blot from total protein isolated after 24 h treatment with 10 ng/ml IL-1β or 100 ng/ml TNFα and co-treatment with 3 μM of FTY720-P or the appropriate amount of vehicle solution (C) Intensity of Western blots was quantified by densitometry and is expressed as a ratio of iNOS versus actin. Data are means ± SEM of 3 independent experiments. *P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01.