Figure 7.

Investigation of cell apoptosis. (a) Western blot analysis for Bax, a pro-apoptotic marker, revealed a significant elevation of this protein in α2- or α11-deficient hMSC (n=3; ^**P<0.01; ANOVA tested versus con-shRNA). Quantification of three independent western blot experiments is shown. (b–d) Representative western blots of phosphorylated and total FAK, ERK and Akt in control and integrin KD hMSC. pFAK was significantly reduced in all integrin-deficient hMSC whereas a slight reduction of pERK and almost a complete loss of pAkt was detected only in α2- or α11-shRNA hMSC. Quantification analyses were performed from two independent infections and western blotting (n=2, ^*P<0.05; ^**P<0.01; ^***P<0.001; ANOVA tested versus con-shRNA)