Fig. 3

EGFL6 treatment enhances osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in vitro. a, c, e Immunofluorescent images of EGFL6-treated BMSCs stained for the osteogenic-specific protein RUNX2 (a), and pathway-specific protein β-catenin (c) and active β-catenin (e). Cells were counterstained with the nuclear stain DAPI (blue) and the cytoskeleton stain phalloidin (red). Scale bars, 100 μm. b, d, f Quantitation of mean relative levels of RUNX2 (b), β-catenin (d), and active β-catenin (f) in BMSCs treated with EGFL6 (200 ng/ml). Significant differences between experimental and control groups were evaluated by Student t tests; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; and ***p < 0.001