Fig. 1

U0126 promoted the tenogenesis of TSPCs. A Viability of rat TSPCs treated with U0126 at different concentrations. The cells were incubated with U0126 (0.1 μM to 20 μM) for 24 h and 72 h, then MTT assay was performed to test the cell viability. (B&C) Total RNA was extracted from TSPCs treated with or without U0126 (20 μM) or PD98059 (20 μM) for 24 h (B) and 72 h (C). The relative expression levels of Scx, Decorin, Collagen type I, Tnmd, Fmod and Mkx were evaluated by qRT-PCR. GAPDH was used as an internal control. The data was expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3), *p < 0.05. D The TSPCs were treated with tenogenic induction medium supplemented with or without U0126 (20 μM) for 14 days, then Sirius Red staining was performed. And the Sirius Red was quantified using a spectrophotometer at 540 nm