Fig. 3

Inhibition of ERK increases adipocyte differentiation and decreases the proliferation of BMSCs under adipogenesis conditions. a BMSCs were cultured in standard medium. After 7 days, the cells were cultured for 1 day in adipocyte differentiation medium and treated with mitogen-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase (MEK) inhibitors (5 μM U0126 or 20 nM PD0325901). Total RNA was isolated, and the quantitative mRNA levels of C/EBPα and PPARγ were determined using real-time quantitative RT-PCR. n = 4 (^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01 vs. vehicle control). b BMSCs were cultured in adipocyte differentiation medium for 14 days with 5 μM U0126 or 20 nM PD0325901. The cell numbers were evaluated using a modification of the MTT assay. n = 6 (^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01 vs. vehicle control)