Matricellular Protein SMOC2 Potentiates BMP9-Induced Osteogenic Differentiation in Mesenchymal Stem Cells through the Enhancement of FAK/PI3K/AKT Signaling

Figure 1

BMP9 upregulates the expression of SMOC2 in MSCs. (a) Heatmap of the top 10 upregulated and downregulated mRNAs between the control (AdGFP) and experimental groups (AdBMP9). (b) RNA-seq analysis showed the expression value of smoc2 between AdGFP and AdBMP9. (c) Real-time PCR assay results showed endogenous mRNA expression of smoc2 in mesenchymal progenitor cells. (d) Western blot assay results showed endogenous protein expression in mesenchymal progenitor cells; β-actin was used as an internal reference. (e) Efficient transduction of MEFs by the recombinant adenoviruses (AdGFP, AdBMP9, AdSMOC2, and AdsiSMOC2) at 24 h. The expression of the marker genes monomeric RFP and GFP was detected at 24 h after infection in both bright and fluorescence fields. (f–h) Western blot and real-time PCR assays showed the expression of SMOC2 in MEFs at 24 h after infection by recombinant adenoviruses overexpressing SMOC2 and knocking down SMOC2. (i) Real-time PCR assay results showed the effect of BMP9 on mRNA expression of smoc2 in MEFs (, vs. control). (j) Western blot assays showed the effect of BMP9 on SMOC2 protein expression in MEFs. (k) The quantification results of the Western blot assay showed the effect of BMP9 on the protein expression of SMOC2 in MEFs (, vs. control).

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