Figure 2.
Oestrogen improved the stemness of human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) in short‐term culture. Human periodontal ligament stem cells were treated with different concentrations of oestrogen (10−6, 10−7 and 10−8 mol/L) during various culture times, and the proliferation of cells was subsequently assessed (A). The effect of 10−7 mol/L oestrogen (E2) on the proliferation of hPDLSCs was detected by MTS assay (B). Cell cycle distribution of hPDLSCs under 10−7 mol/L E2 during short‐term stimulation and the percentages of cells residing in the G2 + S phases are shown in the graphs (C). The expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) and stemness‐related genes (Sox2, Oct4 and c‐Myc) was tested by RT‐PCR during short‐term culture. The mRNA expression levels were normalized to GAPDH mRNA (D). Control group: cells were cultured in 0.01% (V/V) ethyl alcohol. E2 group: cells were cultured with 10−7 mol/L oestrogen. E2 + ICI group: cells were cultured with 10−7 mol/L oestrogen and 10−6 mol/L ICI 182780. Data are shown as the mean ± SDs of 3 separate experiments. *P<.05; **P<.01; NS, no statistical significance