Total RNA was extracted from chondrocytes with the RNeasy Mini kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) Total RNA samples were prepared for mRNA-Sequencing using the Illumina TruSeq Stranded mRNA Sample Preparation kit following the manufacturer's protocol (Illumina, San Diego, CA). Libraries were validated for length and adapter dimer removal using the Agilent TapeStation 4200 D1000 High Sensitivity assay (Agilent Technologies), and then they were quantified and normalized using the dsDNA High Sensitivity Assay for Qubit 3.0 (Thermo Fisher Scientific). Sample libraries were prepared for Illumina sequencing by denaturing and diluting the libraries per manufacturer's protocol (Illumina). All samples were pooled into one sequencing pool, equally normalized, and run as one sample pool across the Illumina NextSeq 500 using version 2.5 chemistry. Target read depth was achieved for each sample with paired end 75bp reads.