Figure 5.

Effect of NPs on the expression of muscle specific markers in myotubes.

Notes: (A) Fluorescence images of myotubes after incubation with and without NPs. Red, staining of alpha-actinin characteristic of the sarcomeric organization of myofibers; blue, Hoechst stained-nuclei. Scale bar, 1 μm. (B) Expression of muscle-specific markers. After myoblast treatment with NPs, proteins were extracted from myotubes at day 7 of differentiation and subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Immunodetection was carried out using specific antibodies against alpha-actinin, myosin heavy chain, and myogenin. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase was used as a loading control. (C) The level of the different proteins was quantified and expressed as a percentage of the level obtained in the untreated control cells. Bars on the graph represent the standard error of the mean. *Significantly different from the control (P≤0.05).

Abbreviation: NP, silica nanoparticle.