Fig. 2. Effect of calcitriol and paricalcitol on the expression of markers of osteoblastic phenotype during HASMC calcification. HASMCs are incubated for 9 days in a high (3.3 mmol/l) phosphate (HP) medium (calcification medium) alone or supplemented with either calcitriol 10 8 M (HP CTR) or paricalcitol 3·10 8 M (HP PC). Cells incubated in normal phosphate (0.9 mmol/l) medium are used as controls. mRNA levels are analyzed by real-time RT-PCR technique. Expression of target genes are normalized to the expression of GAPDH. A: bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) mRNA expression. B: Runx2/Cbfa1 mRNA expression. C: Msx2 mRNA expression. D: osteocalcin/Bglap mRNA expression. Bars are means SE (3 independent experiments; 6 repetitions in each experiment). OC, osteocalcin. *P 0.05 vs. control. #P 0.05 vs. HP.
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