BMSC or OCL precursor cell lysates were loaded onto 7.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels (SDS-PAGE) (for V-CAM1 expression) or 10% SDS-PAGE (for cell signaling analyses) and electrophoresed under reducing conditions using precast gels (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hercules, CA), as described (16 (link)). Antibodies used for immunoblotting included: anti-phospho PKCζ (Thr410/403), anti-phospho IκBα (Ser32), anti-phospho p38 MAPK (Thr180/Tyr182) and anti-p38 MAPK, anti-PKCξ, anti-IκBα, cleaved and uncleaved caspases 3, 7, and 9 (all from Cell Signaling, Boston, MA, catalog numbers 9378, 2859, 9211, 9212, 9368, 9242, respectively), anti-c-Fos, anti-NFATc1 and anti-V-CAM1 (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Dallas, TX, catalog numbers sc-52, sc-7294, sc-1504, respectively), and anti-TNF-α (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, catalog number AF-410-NA). β-actin was used for a control (Abcam, Cambridge, MA, catalog ab49900).