Mechanical Strain-Mediated Tenogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Is Regulated through Epithelial Sodium Channels

Figure 5

mRNA expression of tenogenic lineage genes and α-ENaC gene subjected to cyclic tensile loading. (a) Tenogenic differentiation of hMSCs is triggered by mechanical stimulation (1 Hz and 8% strain). The expression level of each gene was normalized with the level of housekeeping gene. Fold changes of expression were counted by normalizing to the relative expression amount of corresponding control groups (unstrained groups). Statistical significance () was represented by compared to unstrained. (b) Tenogenic lineage genes’ (DCN, COL1, COL3, TNC, SCX, and TNMD) expression was influenced after adding benzamil to the strained cells. The value of fold change was presented as the ratio of the strained group treated with benzamil to the strained group without benzamil. Statistical significance () was represented by compared to the strained group without treatment. Error bars represent the SD of the mean of six biological replicates.

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