Epicatechin elicits MyoD-dependent myoblast differentiation and myogenic conversion of fibroblasts
Fig 5
EC enhances myogenic differentiation of human RD cells.
(A) RD cells were induced to differentiate with treatment of either EC or DMSO for 72 hours. Cell lysates were subjected to immunoblotting with antibodies to MHC, MyoD, Myogenin and pan-Cadherin as a loading control. The experiment was repeated three times with similar results. (B) Quantification of three independent experiments performed as shown in panel A. The intensity of myogenic-specific proteins was quantified, and the values from DMSO were set to 1.0. Data from three independent experiments were presented as the means ± 1 SD. Significant difference from control, *P < 0.01 and **P < 0.05. (C) Cells from panel A were stained for MHC expression (red) and with DAPI to stain nuclei (blue) to reveal myotube formation. (D) Quantification of myotube formation in experiments shown in panel (C). Data from three independent experiments were presented as the means ± 1 SD. Asterisks indicate significant difference from the control at *P < 0.01, **P < 0.05.