Figure 6

Effect of mechanical strain, icariin, the combination of mechanical strain and icariin stimulation on the protein and mRNA expression of Col I. After stimulation of mechanical strain, icariin, the combination of mechanical strain and icariin on MC3T3-E1 cells of 1 h/day for 3 days, the total protein and mRNA of MC3T3-E1 cells were extracted. The mRNA expression of Col I was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR (a), and the protein expression of Col I (b) was detected by western blot. The β-actin protein was used as internal control. Optical density analysis (c) was obtained with the Image-Pro Plus version 6.0. Data represent mean ± SD values from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 (n = 4) compared with control group, ^# P < 0.05, ^## P < 0.01 compared with mechanical strain or icariin stimulation.