Fig. 6

eMSCs inhibited EC cell proliferation and stemness through DKK1-Wnt/β-catenin signaling. A The inhibitory effect of Wnt inhibitor Foscenvivint on EC cell sphere-forming ability. EC cells were treated with or without Foscenvivint (0.5 μM) for 15 days. The numbers of visible spheres were calculated and compared. Original magnification, 4 × ; Scale bar, 400 μm. B The inhibitory effect of Foscenvivint on expression of stemness-related proteins in EC cells. EC cells were treated with or without Foscenvivint (2 μM) for 48 h and then were harvested to analyze β-catenin and stemness-related proteins by western blotting. C The inhibitory effect of CM derived from eMSCs on sphere-forming ability was reversed after activating Wnt signaling. EC cells were treated with or without Wnt activator CHIR-99021 (5 nM) in the presence or absence of CM derived from eMSCs for 15 days. The numbers of visible spheres were calculated and compared. Original magnification, 4 × ; Scale bar, 400 μm. D The inhibitory effect of CM derived from eMSCs on Wnt/β-catenin signaling and stemness-related proteins were reversed after activating Wnt signaling by CHIR-99021. EC cells were treated with or without Wnt activator CHIR-99021 (5 nM) in the presence or absence of CM derived from eMSCs for 48 h and then were harvested to analyze β-catenin and Wnt target proteins by western blotting. E CHIR-99021 treatment rescued DKK1-induced inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and stemness-related proteins. EC cells were treated with or without Wnt activator CHIR-99021 (5 nM) in the presence or absence DKK1 (DKK1) for 48 h and then were harvested to analyze β-catenin and stemness-related proteins by western blotting. CM, conditioned medium; The blots of BMI1, Nanog, β-catenin, and GAPDH were all cropped (B, D, and E) and full-length blots were presented in Additional file 7: Figure S6. Data were analyzed by unpaired t-test (A, C). ***P < 0.001