Reduced expression of inflammatory markers and genes associated with joint destruction in paws of C17-treated animals.

<p>One hind paw per animal was harvested at the time of euthanasia and quantitative RT-PCR was performed to measure mRNA levels of cytokines associated with joint inflammation (A), and genes associated with joint remodeling and arthritic tissue destruction (B). (C) mRNA expression of selected genes from paws with severe swelling and matched clinical disease score 3. (D) C17 expression in paws from naïve animals and animals that received arthrogen with GFP control or C17 minicircle. Values from naïve animals are shown as filled triangles, from GFP mice as filled squares, from C17 mice as open circles, throughout the figure. Not significant: ns; p<0.05: *; p<0.01: **. Similar data were obtained in at least two independent experiments with five or more mice per group.