Figure 1.

Stiffness increases expression of the αv, α5, and β1 integrin subunits and phosphorylation of FAK. QPCR of primary hMSCs cultured on NX-MC or MC for 3 or 7 d in osteogenic differentiation medium for the A) αv, B) α2, C) α5, D) β1, and E) β3 integrin subunits (n = 3–4). Western blot of primary hMSCs cultured on NX-MC or MC for 0, 3, 7, or 14 d in osteogenic differentiation medium for F) phosphorylated FAK (p-FAK), total FAK, and GAPDH. G) Densitometric quantification of western blot analyses demonstrating relative protein amounts of p-FAK to total FAK. Bars represent means, errors bars represent SE. Significant posthoc comparisons following ANOVA indicated with p-values.