Figure 2.

Expression changes in collagen I-binding integrins on hMSC commitment into osteoblasts. (a) hMSC were osteogenically stimulated for 21 days and the deposited calcified matrix was visualized by AR staining. (b) AR quantification. Experiments were performed with three donors (n=3; ^***P<0.001; unpaired t-test for each donor). (c) RT-PCR analysis of Osterix, osteocalcin (OCN) and bone sialoprotein (BSP) demonstrated the upregulation of bone-specific genes. Shown is a representative experiment of three independent repeats. Quantitative RT-PCR for integrin α1 (d), α2 (e) and α11 (f) revealed that α2 and α11 integrins significantly upregulate on OS. Data shown are for all donors as three independent quantitative RT-PCR measurements were performed per donor, (n=9; ^*P<0.05; ^**P<0.01; ^***P<0.001; unpaired t-test for each donor). (g) Western blot analysis for α2 and α11 protein expression confirmed the previous findings. A representative experiment of two independent western blots is shown