Fig. 5
MSC osteogenic differentiation assay. a–c Cytochemical analysis of differentiated MSC monolayers in light microscopy, with Alizarin Red, in order to evidence the formation of mineralized nodules. These nodules were present in control cells (a), in γ-Fe2O3-DMSA labeled cells, (b) and in Au-DMSA labeled cells (c). d Quantification of alizarin red incorporated in monolayers of differentiated and non-differentiated MSC; (*) Significant reduction in the group “MSC + Au-DMSA” compared to the groups “Unmarked MSC” and “MSC + γ-Fe2O3-DMSA” (p < 0.05). e Measurement of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity: data are represented as the average ratio of ALP activity and total protein content, with the respective standard deviations. There was no significant difference between control and experimental groups (p > 0.05). Bars 100 µm