Fig. 6

Expression of genes involved in ovarian function in excised rat ovaries after coculture with PD-MSCs. a The mRNA expression of Nanos3, Nobox, LHX8, and Lin28a in the ovaries of rats at 24, 48, and 72 h after coculture with PD-MSCs was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, with reads normalized to GAPDH as an internal control (mean ± SE). b The intensity of PI3K, pAkt, pGSK3β, and pFOXO3a and c the activities of caspase-3 in supernatants and in ovary tissues at 24, 48, and 72 h after coculture with PD-MSCs were analyzed by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (mean ± SE). The loading control was GAPDH for qRT-PCR and Western blotting. The percentage of LDH release was measured by the LDH assay. d mRNA expression (left) and activity (right) of SCF in the ovaries and supernatants at 24, 48, and 72 h after coculture with or without PD-MSCs or WI-38 cells were analyzed by quantitative qRT-PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, normalized to GAPDH as an internal control (mean ± SE) All experiments were performed in triplicate. Significance at p < 0.05 is indicated by an asterisk (*) for NTx vs. others and a number sign (#) for DTx vs. TTx (± SE)