Fig. 2

Effect of Paxlovid on the ATDC5 chondrogenic differentiation ability. A, B Alcian blue and toluidine blue staining of micromass cultures of the ATDC5 cells and quantitative analysis, which reflects the effect of Paxlovid on extracellular matrix protein secretion. C, D Expression of chondrogenic-related genes when cells are treated with a concentration gradient of Paxlovid, with corresponding quantitative analysis. E mRNA expression of Sox9 and Col2a1 with and without Paxlovid treatment. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001, compared to the control group