Fig. 3

HUCMSCs-exo or exosomal miR-140-3p alleviates chondrocyte apoptosis in RA rats and decreased miR-140-3p reverses impact of HUCMSCs-exo on chondrocyte apoptosis in RA rats. A Expression of miR-140-3p and SGK1 in cartilage tissues was determined by RT-qPCR; B Protein expression of SGK1 in cartilage tissues was determined by Western blot analysis; C Apoptosis of chondrocytes was observed through TUNEL staining; D AI of chondrocytes in each group; E mRNA expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in cartilage tissues was determined using RT-qPCR; n = 5; *P < 0.05 vs the sham group, ^P < 0.05 vs the CIA group, ^#P < 0.05 vs the mimic-NC-exo group, ^&P < 0.05 vs the inhibitor-NC-exo group; the data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation, ANOVA was used for comparisons among multiple groups and Tukey’s post hoc test was used for pairwise comparisons after ANOVA