RUNX2 and osteosarcoma: Following IL-17A treatment for 24 h, AX cells did not exhibit increased AX cell proliferation in vitro (Fig. 4a) Interestingly, however, expression of osteoblastic genes, such as alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (Oc) and Runx2, was significantly downregulated in AX cells following IL-17A treatment in vitro (Fig. 4b), in addition, changes at the protein level were also align with gene expression levels (Fig. 4c,d), suggesting that IL-17 signaling inhibits osteoblastic differentiation in this context and maintains osteosarcoma cells in an undifferentiated state.