The Regulating Effects of Transforming Growth Factor β(TGF-β) on Gene Expression of Collagen TypeI, IIIin the Human Intervertebral Discs

Objective To assess the regualting effects of transforming growth factor β(TGF-β) on gene expression of collagne type Ⅰ, Ⅲin the human intervertebral discs. Methods Dot blot hybridization and in situ hybridization were used to investigate the effects of TGF-β1 on collagen mRNA in confluent primary and passaged monolayer cell cultures of annulus fibrosus(AF) as well as nucleus pulposus(NP). The mean photodensitometry of hybridization membrane and cell smears as semiquantitative analysis was evaluated by VIDAS software. Results 1)Exposure to 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml TGF-β 1 can increase the collagen typeⅠmRNA levels by 1.18 and 1.37-fold respectively in primary cultures of AF; 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml TGF-β 1 can increase the collagen typeⅠmRNA levels by 1.60 and 1.84-fold respectively in passaged cultures of AF; 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 can increase the collagen typeⅠmRNA levels by 1.48 and 2.03-fold respectively in passaged cultures of NP. 2) Exposure to 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml TGF-β 1 can increase the collagen type ⅢmRNA levels by 1.08 and 1.22-fold respectively in primary cultures of AF; 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 can increase the collagen type ⅢmRNA levels by 1.22 and 1.40-fold respectively in passaged cultures of AF; 1 ng/ml and 10 ng/ml TGF-β1 can increase the collagen type ⅢmRNA levels by 1.20 and 1.43-fold respectively in passaged cultures of NP. Conclusion TGF-βcould cause a dose dependent stimulation on collagenⅠ,Ⅲgene expression in human discs, which implied that TGF-βmay exerts its great potential in the accumulation of fibrosis in the discs degeneration.