AGEs/RAGE Promote Osteogenic Differentiation in Rat Bone Marrow-Derived Endothelial Progenitor Cells via MAPK Signaling

Figure 8

SB203580 and SP600125 prevent AGE-induced upregulation of RUNX2 and OPG in EPCs. EPCs were pretreated 24 h with PD98059 (50 μmol/l), SB203580 (20 μmol/l), or SP600125 (50 μmol/l) followed by treatment with 100 μg/ml AGE for 7 days. Cells that were not exposed to inhibitor or AGE were used as the negative controls. Cells that were exposed to AGE but not to inhibitor were used as the positive control for all AGE experiments. (a) Protein expressions of RUNX2 and OPG were detected by western blotting and (b) the levels were semiquantitated by densitometric analysis; GAPDH was used as a loading control. Each data point represents the results of three independent experiments. ^♦ vs. AGE-treated samples. AGE: advanced glycation end product; CON: control; EPC: endothelial progenitor cell; OPG: osteoprotegerin; PD: PD98059; RUNX2: runt-related transcription factor 2; SB: SB203580; SP: SP600125.

(a) Western blot

(b)