Fig. 2.

TAZ knockdown impairs osteogenic differentiation of ADSCs in vitro. a Transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) knockdown (KD) in ADSCs infected with shRNA lentiviral particles targeting human TAZ was verified by Western blot. Representative images of Western blots from three independent experiments are shown. b TAZ and its downstream targets CTGF and Cyr61 were downregulated in TAZ-knockdown ADSCs as determined by quantitative RT-PCR. c Cell proliferation was compromised in TAZ-knockdown ADSCs compared with control cells infected with nontargeting lentiviral vectors with scrambled sequence. d Compromised osteogenic differentiation of ADSCs was detected and quantified by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity assay following TAZ knockdown of ADSCs induced in vitro at day 7. e Reduced mineralization in TAZ-knockdown ADSCs cultured in osteoinductive medium was observed via Alizarin Red staining at days 7, 14, and 21. f Significantly reduced expression of TAZ as well as the osteogenic markers osteopontin (OPN) and osteocalcin (OCN) in TAZ-knockdown ADSCs cultured in osteoinductive medium at days 7, 14, and 21 was detected by Western blot. Representative images of Western blots from three independent experiments are shown. Data shown here are mean ± SD from three independent experiments, ^#P ˃ 0.05, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, by Student’s t test. GAPDH glyeraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, NC normal control, OD optical density, Runx2 runt-related transcription factor 2