Fig. 7From: Melatonin enhances osteogenic differentiation of dental pulp mesenchymal stem cells by regulating MAPK pathways and promotes the efficiency of bone regeneration in calvarial bone defectsEffects of melatonin (0, 100, 10 and 1 μM) on ALP, BMP-2, OCN, RUNX2, COX-2, NF-κB and MAPK pathway protein level expression in melatonin-untreated DPSCs and melatonin-treated DPSCs with osteogenic differentiation after 24 h incubation. a, b DPSCs with 100 μM melatonin treatment enhanced ALP, OCN and RUNX2 protein expression and downregulated COX-2 and NF-κB protein expression. c DPSCs with 100 μM melatonin treatment induced phosphorylation of p38 and ERK. The phosphorylation of JNK was not observed. d Quantitative analysis for the ratios of p-p38/p38, p-JNK/JNK and p-ERK/ERK. (GM growth medium, OM osteogenic medium, Mel melatonin) (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01)Back to article page