Research Article

Activation of Cannabinoid Receptor 2 Enhances Osteogenic Differentiation of Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Figure 2

Osteogenic differentiation of BM-MSC was enhanced by agonist of cannabinoid receptor 2. (a) Alizarin red staining of BM-MSC after 3-week culture. Bar = 100 μm. (b) Alkaline phosphatase staining (ALP) after 2-week culture. Bar = 100 μm. (c) Quantification of positively stained area for alizarin red staining and ALP staining reveals that OS + UR-144 group has more mineralization and more ALP activity than OS group. (d) Real-time PCR was performed to analyze osteogenic genes in BM-MSC after 3-week culture (). GAPDH was amplified for normalization. OS = osteogenic medium. # represents significant difference when comparing OS group with control group. * represents significant difference when comparing OS + UR-144 with OS group.
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