Suppression of osteoclast formation in PTHrP-stimulated co-culture system comprising control MC3T3-E1 cells or shcontrol- or shFAK-infected MC3T3-El cells and murine CD11b⁺ bone marrow cells.

<p>A, SHH stimulated an increase in the number of TRAP-positive cells in the presence of 10 nM PTHrP only in co-cultures of control or shcontrol-infected MC3T3-El cells and CD11b⁺ cells (n = 5). Significant differences between the groups are indicated by the brackets: * <i>P</i> < 0.05 and ** <i>P</i> < 0.01. B and C, RT-PCR analysis of RANKL, OPG and PTHrP expression levels in MC3T3-El cells with or without 10 nM PTHrP or 500 ng/ml SHH. The total RNA was extracted 24 h after the start of treatment. The data from a typical experiment are presented: similar results were obtained in three separate experiments.