Fig. 4

Phenotypic characteristics of female and male chondrocytes isolated from osteoarthritic knees. a–d Passage 1 chondrocytes were treated with 10⁻⁸ M 1α,25(OH)₂D₃ or 10⁻⁸ M E2. e–h Alkaline phosphatase specific activity (a, e) was measured in whole cell lysates. mRNAs for chondrocyte genes aggrecan (b, f), type-II collagen (c, g), and cartilage oligomatric matrix protein (d, h) were measured using real-time qPCR. Data show treatment versus vehicle control ratios of 6 male and 6 female donors. The dashed line represents the vehicle control (dashed line = 1). ^* p < 0.05 vs. control; ^† p < 0.05 vs. male