For Alizarin Red S staining, the cells were fixed with 4% PFA for 15 min at room temperature, then incubated with 0.2% Alizarin Red S (Sigma) in the dark for 10 min at room temperature and rinsed in distilled water.
For Oil Red O staining, cells were fixed with 4% PFA. Then, the cells were rinsed with 60% isopropanol for 2 min, followed by stained with freshly prepared Oil Red O working solution for 15 min at room temperature. The cells were then rinsed with 60% isopropanol for 30 s. The nuclei were lightly stained with alum haematoxylin and rinsed in distilled water.
For TRAP staining, the cells were fixed with 4% PFA for 15 min at room temperature, followed by stained with Sigma Diagnostics™ Acid Phosphatase Kit (ThermoFisher Scientific) according to the manufacturer’s instruction. The activity of tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) was also detected by TRAP Assay Kit (Beyotime) after cell lysis.