Fig. 7

The effect of anti-human receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand mouse monoclonal antibody (ahRANKL-MCA) on the protein level of matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-3 in the culture medium of cells with or without recombinant human interleukin-1 beta (rhIL-1β) stimulation. The protein level of MMP-3 in the culture medium of annulus fibrosus (AF) and nucleus pulposus (NP) cells was quantified by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Treatment with IL-1β (1.0 ng/mL) significantly upregulated the protein expression of MMP-3 by both AF and NP cells. ahRANKL-mAB significantly reduced the protein level of MMP-3 in the culture media of NP cells upregulated by IL-1β stimulation (b). In AF cells, a similar, but not significant, trend was identified (a)