Figure 2.

Adult human neural crest-derived stem cells from female donors showed a strong delay in osteogenic differentiation in comparison to male NCSCs. (A) Schematic depiction of the endogenous niche of craniofacial NCSCs as well as the experimental design. Scheme partly modified from [18]. (B,C) NCSCs from male individuals showed a strong Alizarin Red S-stained calcium deposition after culture on collagen fibers for 30 days, while no signs of Alizarin Red S-positive calcification were observable in female NCSCs. (D,E) RNA-sequencing revealed the expression of common osteogenic markers such as ALP, Runx2 and Osteonectin in NCSCs from three male and female donors after 14 and 30 days, while transcripts solely expressed in either male or female NCSCs belonged to similar GO terms.