Figure 5.

Effect of NFAT inhibitor or β-catenin knockdown on surface-dependent alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity. (a) Cells were treated with the NFAT inhibitor VIVIT (500 nM) or (b) transfected with β-catenin-specific siRNA, and ALP activity was assessed after 4 days of periodontal ligament stem cell culture. A representative result from three independent experiments is shown. *P < 0.05 versus control (tissue culture polystyrene); ^# P < 0.05 versus pretreatment (PT) substrate; ^@ P < 0.05 versus sand-blasted, large-grit acid-etched substrate; ^ϕ P < 0.05, versus modified PT substrate.