Fig. 1.

Effect of vanadate, insulin and IGF-1 on VSa13 and VSa16 cell proliferation (a) and ECM mineralisation (b). Cell proliferation was evaluated after 8 days using MTS assay. Cells were seeded in 96-well plates at 1.5 × 10³ cell/well then treated either with 10 nM insulin, 10 nM IGF-1, 7.5 µM vanadate or left untreated. Mineral deposition was revealed by von Kossa staining and evaluated by densitometry analysis. Cells were seeded in 24-well plates, grown to confluence then treated for mineralisation [60]. Mineralising cultures were subsequently treated with 10 nM insulin, 10 nM IGF-1, 5 µM vanadate or left untreated. Values are the mean of at least three independent experiments. Asterisks indicate values statistically different from their respective control (P < 0.05; one way ANOVA)