Figure 3.

Effect of CG on osteoblast differentiation in ST2 cells as indicated by: (A) ALP activity where cells were cultured in OBM as described in Section 2 and treated with different concentrations of CG for 3, 7 and 9 days prior to determination of ALP activity; (B) expression of the osteoblast marker gene Ocal after exposure to CG at the indicated concentrations for 9 days. mRNA was determined by real-time PCR analysis; and (C) osteoblastic mineralization. Cells were cultured in OBM and treated with CG for 28 days after which mineralization deposits were identified by Alizarin red S staining. *P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001 versus control.