Research Article

Focal Adhesion Kinase and ROCK Signaling Are Switch-Like Regulators of Human Adipose Stem Cell Differentiation towards Osteogenic and Adipogenic Lineages

Figure 4

Expression of adipogenic marker genes AP2 and LEP in hASCs treated with FAK, ERK, and ROCK inhibitors. The hASCs were cultured in BM, OM, or AM supplemented with 2 μM FAK, 40 μM ERK, or 15 μM ROCK inhibitors in addition to medium controls. AP2 and LEP expressions were analyzed with qRT-PCR. The expression of AP2 and LEP are normalized with the expression of the housekeeping gene RPLP0, and the results are presented relative to the 7 d BM sample. FAK and ROCK: (independent experiments, 5 donors), ERK: (independent experiments, 3 donors). BM: basic medium; OM: osteogenic medium; AM: adipogenic medium.