Fig. 4

Effect of UA on IL-1β-induced activation of MAPK and NF-κB. Chondrocytes were pretreated with UA (1, 7.5 and 15 μM) for 2 h, followed by co-incubation with 20 ng/ml IL-1β for 30 min. a Protein expression of P-ERK, ERK, P-JNK, JNK, P-P38, P38, P-P65, and P65 were determined by western blot. b, c, d, e Relative protein expression of P-ERK, P-JNK, P-P38, and P-P65 compared to ERK, JNK, P38, and P65 shown as histograms. Data are presented as mean ± S.D. n = 6. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 versus the IL-1β group