Fig. 3

Apelin-13 activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. a Comparison of signaling pathway-related protein levels by Western blot analyses. hBMSCs were incubated with different concentrations of Apelin-13 during osteogenic differentiation on day 3. Protein expression levels were normalized to that of GAPDH. b Increased expression of osteo-specific proteins (COL1A1 and RUNX2) due to the inhibition of exogenous recombinant Apelin-13 by DKK1. Protein expression levels were normalized to that of GAPDH. c Immunofluorescence staining for RUNX2 and COL1A1. Scale bars, 100 μm. Data are expressed as mean ± SD. Assays were performed in triplicate. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ^##P < 0.01, compared with the control group