FIG. 3.

Recombinant human PAI-1-induced OSX and CEMP1 expression was mediated by p38 and Smad2/3. (A) To inspect the molecular mechanisms of rhPAI-1-induced differentiation, hPDLSCs were cultured in osteogenic differentiation medium without or with rhPAI-1 (100 ng/mL). Whole-cell lysates were subjected to Western blot analysis with the indicated antibodies; α-tubulin served as an internal control. (B) hPDLSCs were cultured in osteogenic differentiation medium without or with rhPAI-1 (100 ng/mL) for the indicated time points. Whole-cell lysates were subjected to Western blot analysis with indicated antibodies; α-tubulin served as an internal control. (C) To confirm whether p38 and Smad2/3 contributed to rhPAI-1-induced cementogenic differentiation of hPDLSCs, SB203580 and SIS3 were used. Alizarin red S staining was performed on day 14. The samples were destained as described in Materials and Methods section. *p<0.01. OSX, osterix. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea