Figure 4.

Activin‐A down regulates expression of osteoclast‐ and osteoclastogenesis related genes after 7 days of coculture. Control or FOP PLF were cocultured with CD14+ cells from healthy subjects without and with Activin‐A 50 ng/ml. After 7 days RNA was isolated and QPCR was performed on (a) M‐CSF and (b) DC‐STAMP. Expression was normalized for expression of the housekeeping gene PBGD. n = 6 for both control and FOP (Wilcoxon matched‐pairs signed rank test, ^* p ≤ 0.05). Activin‐A significantly downregulates expression of M‐CSF in the cocultures with the control PLF and of M‐CSF and DC‐STAMP in the cocultures with the FOP PLF. DC‐STAMP: dendritic cell‐specific transmembrane protein; FOP: fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva; M‐CSF: macrophage colony‐stimulating factor; PBGD: porphobilinogen deaminase; PLF: periodontal ligament fibroblasts; QPCR: quantitative polymerase chain reaction