Fig. 5

The overexpression of p21 abolished the effect of OCT4 in hHFMSCs. a qPCR and western blot of the expression of p21 in hHFMSCs^EGFP and hHFMSCs^OCT4. b The overexpression of p21 in hHFMSCs^OCT4 (named NC and p21; bar, 100 μm). c qPCR and western blot after overexpressing p21. d Immunocytochemistry of Ki67 after overexpressing p21 (bar, 20 μm). Cell proliferation curve (e) and clone formation assay (f) after overexpressing p21; the enlarged views show the difference between the two cell clones. The histogram is the formation rates of the clones (bar, 200 μm). g Osteogenic differentiation after overexpressing p21 in hHFMSCs^OCT4. Calcium nodules were detected by Alizarin Red S staining (bar, 200 μm). h qPCR results for the expression of senescence-associated genes. i SA-β-gal staining after overexpressing p21 in hHFMSCs^OCT4 (bar, 200 μm). Stained cells are indicated by arrows (*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001)