Fig. 7

Altered Wnt5a expression affected M1 morphology, cell proliferation and mesenchymal pluripotency. a Ex vivo culture images of M1 germs at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 days after transfection of Wnt5a siRNA (siWnt5a) or negative control (siCTRL). The dotted line marks the boundary between epithelium and mesenchyme. Scale bar: 100 μm. b Prx1 and β-catenin mRNA expression levels in cultured M1 cells were evaluated by RT-qPCR after Wnt5a knockdown (n = 3). The error bar represents the standard deviation of the mean. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. c Pcna mRNA expression between siWnt5a and siCTRL group was verified by RT-qPCR (n = 3). it showed significantly lower Pcna mRNA level after Wnt5a knockdown. *P < 0.05. d mRNA expression levels of mesenchymal markers Vim, N-cadherin, Snail and Postn were evaluated by RT-qPCR after Wnt5a siRNA transfection (n = 3). **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001