Research Article

Insulin Enhances the In Vitro Osteogenic Capacity of Flexor Tendon-Derived Progenitor Cells

Figure 4

(a) Alizarin Red-stained TPC osteogenic cultures with 0, 0.07, and 0.7 nM/L insulin and 100 nM of picropodophyllin (PPP). PPP mitigated aggregation and mineralized matrix secretion of TPCs seen with insulin treatment. Scale microns. (b) mRNA levels (normalized to EF1a) of RUNX2, ALP, and Osteonectin (OSN) in TPC osteogenic cultures without insulin (Ctrl), supplemented with 0.7 nM/L insulin (INS) and with 0.7 nM/L insulin and 100 mM picropodophyllin (INS+PPP). PPP returned the increased osteogenic gene expression seen in insulin-treated TPCs back to baseline. represents a significant increase between treatment groups (). (c) Alkaline phosphatase bioactivity (normalized to DNA) of TPC osteogenic cultures without insulin (Ctrl), supplemented with 0.7 nM/L insulin (INS) and with 0.7 nM/L insulin and 100 mM picropodophyllin (INS+PPP). represents a significant increase between treatment groups ().
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