Fig. 6

CircSIPA1L1/miR-617/Smad3 axis is responsible for DPSCs osteogenesis. a Western blot assay showed higher protein levels of Smad3 in the miR-NC group and miR-617 inhibitor than the miR-617 mimic group and miR-617 inhibitor NC group respectively. Meanwhile, the si-circSIPA1L1-downexpressing group showed lower protein levels of Smad3 than the control group. b, c Grayscale analyses. **P < 0.01 or ***P < 0.001. c Immunofluorescence assay revealed upregulated Smad3 in the NC group and miR-617 inhibitor than miR-617 mimics group and miR-617 inhibitor NC group, respectively. d Immunofluorescence assay revealed upregulated Smad3 in the Si-NC group compared with Si-circSIPA1L1-3 group and Si-circSIPA1L1-1 group. e Results of western blot analysis indicated that the miR-617 inhibitor rescued the si-circSIPA1L1-3-mediated downregulation of RUNX2, ALP, OSX, and Smad3. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01. f Results of western blotting were analyzed with ImageJ software, and data were presented as ratio of target protein to GAPDH in the form of grayscale value. (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01)