Fig. 3

Effect of GOQDs on the viability and osteogenic differentiation of hPDLSCs in vitro. A, B) Cell viability assessed by the CCK-8 assay of hPDLSCs treated with different concentrations of Y-GOQDs (n = 6) or B-GOQDs (n = 5) for 1, 3 and 5 days. “*” represents a comparison of differences with the vehicle group at each time point. C, D ALP staining of hPDLSCs after osteogenic induction for 10 days with different concentrations of Y-GOQDs and B-GOQDs. E, F ALP staining and ALP activity (n = 4) of hPDLSCs after incubation with 5 µg/mL Y-GOQDs or B-GOQDs for 10 days. G, H Alizarin red staining and quantitative analysis of hPDLSCs after incubation with Y-GOQDs and B-GOQDs for 21 days. I Western blotting was used to assess the expression of osteogenic differentiation marker proteins, including Osterix, Runx2, OPN, and OCN, in hPDLSCs treated with Y-GOQDs and B-GOQDs. J, K, L, M Relative quantitative analysis of the protein expression of Osterix, Runx2, OPN, and OCN determined by Fiji (n = 3). The vehicle group was the solvent control group. NS P > 0.05, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001