Fig. 4

Adipogenic and osteogenic differentiation of WJ-MSCs and BM-MSCs. a The adipogenic differentiation of WJ-MSCs and BM-MSCs was assessed by means of Oil Red O staining and real time RT-PCR for the evaluation of the adipocyte-related gene expression. The representative stained samples following adipogenic differentiation depict the inferior potential of WJ-MSCs to differentiate toward adipocytes compared to BM-MSCs. The bars in the graphs represent the relative expression (mean + 1 standard deviation) of PPARG and CEBPA in BM-MSCs (n = 18) and WJ-MSCs (n = 18) before differentiation induction (day 0) and at different time points during adipogenic differentiation using GAPDH as internal control gene (2^-ΔCt method). The statistically significant differences, according to the two-way analysis of variance, are depicted. b The osteogenic differentiation of WJ-MSCs and BM-MSCs was assessed by means of Alizarin Red and Von Kossa staining and real time RT-PCR for the evaluation of the osteocyte-related gene expression. The representative samples following osteogenic differentiation display similar Alizarin Red and Von Kossa reactions in WJ-MSCs and BM-MSCs. The bars in the graphs represent the relative expression (mean + 1 standard deviation) of RUNX2, DLX5, ALP and OSC in BM-MSCs (n = 18) and WJ-MSCs (n = 18) before differentiation induction (day 0) and at different time points during osteogenic differentiation using GAPDH as internal control gene (2^-ΔCt method). The statistically significant differences, according to the two-way analysis of variance, are depicted. Abbreviations: BM-MSCs bone marrow-mesenchymal stem cells, WJ-MSCs Wharton’s jelly-mesenchymal stem cells