Fig 2: The rhEMILIN-1 coating had no effect on the morphology of hDPSCs. The representative images of EMILIN-1 and phalloidin-labeled immunofluorescence of hDPSCs when the cells were seeded in the coated wells for 24 h. Scale bars = 200 μm

Fig 3: Knockdown of Emilin-1 inhibited osteo/odontogenic differentiation of hDPSCs. A The summary diagram of the experimental workflow. B Emilin-1 siRNA knockdown efficiency was confirmed by qPCR and C Western blot analysis (a). Grayscale analysis of protein bands (b). D Emilin-1 knockdown resulted in decreased proliferation of hDPSCs detected by the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. E Good knockdown efficiency was maintained after 7 days of culture in growth medium as detected by qPCR and F Western blot analysis (a). Gray-scale analysis of protein bands (b). G ALP staining showed that Emilin-1 knockdown decreased ALP activity in hDPSCs. Scale bars = 250 μm. H qPCR and I Western blot detected that the expression of EMILIN-1 and osteo/odonto-specific genes/proteins was reduced in transfected hDPSCs after 7 days of culture in osteo/odontogenic induction medium (a). Grayscale analysis of protein bands (b). Values are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD). *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001. The blots in Ca, Fa, Ia were cropped