Fig. 3

Gal-3 sex-differential effects on osteogenic markers. Positive correlations between Gal-3 and BMP-2 (A), BMP-9 (B), osteopontin (C) and osteocalcin (D) in AVs from men and women. Representative microphotographs of AV sections from AS patients immunostained for Gal-3 in combination with osteopontin (E), Runx2 (F), Sox-9 (G) and BMP-2 (H). Protein levels of osteopontin (I) and Sox-9 (J) measured by ELISA and WB respectively, after stimulation in vitro with Gal-3 and with MCP or G3P-01. BMP bone morphogenetic protein, Gal-3 galectin-3, Runx2 Runt-related transcription factor 2, Sox-9 SRY-Box Transcription Factor 9. N = 108 AVs from men and N = 83 AVs from women. In vitro: number of biological replicates: 12 men and 12 women; number of technical replicates: 3–6