Figure 4.

  Wnt/β‐catenin pathway mediation of aspirin‐induced mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) apoptosis by mitchondrial/caspase‐3 pathway. MSCs were pre‐incubated for 30 min with or without SB 216763 (5 μm), LiCl (0.5 mm) or Wnt 3a (0.1 μg/ml), respectively, before exposure to aspirin (5 mm) for a further 24 h. Changes in expression of Bcl‐2 and Bax (a), mitochondrial and cytosolic cytochrome c (b) and capase‐3 (c) were determined by Western blot analysis. Changes in activity of caspase‐3 (d) were determined colorimetrically. Blots shown are representative of at least three independent experiments and data in the graphs are mean ± standard error of the mean of at least three independent experiments (*P < 0.05 vs. control; **P < 0.01 vs. control; ^## P < 0.01 vs. aspirin).