Fig. 2.

The two HA preparations inhibit the expression of intermediate and late osteogenic differentiation markers as well as BMP-induced Smad signaling in ST2 and MC3T3-E1 cells. a, b Effect of HA1 and HA2 on Runx2, Bglap2, Ibsp, and Alpl mRNA levels in ST2 (a) and MC3T3-E1 (b) cells. Each of the two cell lines was treated with HA1 or HA2 preparations for 24 h before total RNA was extracted and analyzed by qRT-PCR. Values normalized to Gapdh are expressed relative to the values of untreated control (Ctrl) cells. Data represent means ± SD from three independent experiments. Significant differences to the respective control unless otherwise indicated, ***P < 0.001, **P < 0.01, *P < 0.05