Fig. 3

S1P agonist blocks the osteogenic differentiation of DPSCs in association with a reduction in activated AKT. a DPSCs were incubated with osteogenic media to stimulate their differentiation into osteogenic cells with the designated concentrations of VPC24191 or CYM5520 for 3 weeks. AR staining was then conducted (left) and the AR-positive area was quantified from each individual culture plate (right). b DPSCs were treated with VPC24191 (10 μmol·L⁻¹) or CYM5520 (10 μmol·L⁻¹) in the osteogenic media for the indicated minutes. The protein expression of p-AKT, AKT, p-ERK, ERK, p-p38, p38, p-JNK, JNK, and β-actin was analyzed by immunoblotting (left). Densitometry quantification of p-AKT compared to AKT is represented (right); Data are presented as the mean ± SEM. The experiments were at least triplicated. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.005, ***P < 0.000 5 versus vehicle control. P values were obtained using the Kruskal–Wallis test (a) and one-way ANOVA (b)