FIG. 1.

Tungsten enhances rosiglitazone-induced adipogenesis of MSCs in vitro. MSC cultures were transitioned to OM medium and were either left untreated (OM) or treated with 15 μg/ml tungsten (OM +W), 1 nM rosiglitazone (OM +Rosi), or the combination of tungsten and rosiglitazone (OM +Rosi +W) throughout adipocyte differentiation. A, RNA expression analysis of adipocyte gene markers (Pparg, Fabp4, Plin1, and Adipoq) were analyzed by qRT-PCR at day 7 of differentiation. Graph shows the mean fold change in gene expression ± SEM, normalized to naïve gene expression for each gene. Data normalized to housekeeping gene Rn18s. ***P ≤ .001 1-way ANOVA. Graph is a representative experiment of 3 biological replicates each performed in four technical replicates. B, Adipocyte quantification in MSC cultures was analyzed by counting the number of adipocytes in 3 representative images (10×) of Oil Red O stained cells per sample at day 9 of differentiation. Graph shows the number of adipocytes ± SEM. Graph is a representative experiment of 3 biological replicates each performed in triplicate. ***P ≤ .001 1-way ANOVA. C, Representative images (10×) of Oil Red O stained MSC cultures at day 9 of differentiation.