Fig. 4.

CaSO₄ modulates migration and AKT activation induced by BMP-2. a, b Wound healing assay evaluating the effects of CaSO₄ 3 mM and BMP-2 2nM alone or in combination on MSC migration after 24 hours of culture. Results shown as average of three different experiments with six replicates for each condition. A representative image displayed for each condition. Note that CaSO4 and BMP-2 produced a similar effect on MCS migration. c Wound healing assay to assess effects of LY294002 or Wortmannin (PI3K/AKT inhibitors at 10 μM and 500 nM respectively) on MSC chemotaxis. Migration was abrogated when MSCs were treated simultaneously with CaSO₄ and such inhibitors. d MSCs were cultured with CaSO₄ 3 mM and BMP-2 2nM alone or in combination for 24 hours, and extracts analyzed by western blot assay and quantified relative to α-Tubulin. Differences considered significant at **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001. BMP bone morphogenetic protein