Transglutaminase 2 Prevents Premature Senescence and Promotes Osteoblastic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells through NRF2 Activation

Figure 3

TG2 promotes MSC proliferation during early passages. (a–c) MSCs were transduced with TG2 overexpression or a control vector at passage 3 (a), passage 6 (b), and passage 14 (c). Cell viability assays were performed using trypan blue staining. (d) The expression levels of TG2, NRF2, NQO1, and HMOX1 upon the reintroduction of TG2 into TG2-deficient MSCs. The protein expression levels were analyzed using western blotting. The loading control used was β-actin. The western blots are representative results from three independent experiments performed. (e) Cell proliferation upon the reintroduction of TG2 into TG2-deficient MSCs. Cell viability was assessed through the trypan blue staining. The data are shown as the average values along with the standard error of the mean (SEM) obtained by conducting three technical replicates within a single experiment. Statistical significance was tested by Student’s t-test (n = 3; ).

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