Fig. 5

Knock down of β-catenin abolished the neuronal differentiation of NSCs induced by EF stimulation. A, B The β-catenin expression in NSCs was knocked down with siCTNNB1 transfection. Scale bar: 10 μm. C, D EF stimulation increased NeuroD1 in WT NSCs. E, F EF stimulation failed to increase (or even in reversing trend) NeuroD1 expression in siCTNNB1 transfected NSCs. G, H. EF stimulation showed no effect on expression of MAP2 or GFAP in siCTNNB1 transfected NSCs. Scale bar: 20 μm. I. Schematic diagram: β-catenin is required in EF stimulation induced the NeuroD1 and neuronal differentiation of NSCs. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 and *** P < 0.001 were considered as significantly different between EF and NoEF groups