Fig. 3

Cell transplantation can reduce the level of fibrosis after SCI. TEM showed A large number of a large number of intermediate filaments between the proliferating astrocytes in the Con group (A, a). The relative reduction in intermediate filaments between astrocytes after cell treatment (B, b). Scale bar, 5μm. Images of Masson’s trichrome staining in the different groups at dpo7 (C, D), dpo14 (E, F) and dpo 28 (G, H). The proportion of fibrosis in the M&N group was significantly lower compared to the Con group (K). Scale bar, 100μm. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. The mRNA and protein levels of TGF-β were assessed by RT-qPCR and Western blot analysis (L, J). Western blot showed that the expression level of TGF-β in each group increased gradually with time (J) (Full-length blots/gels are presented in Additional file 5: Fig. S1). The expression of TGF-β was significantly decreased after cell transplantation in all three time periods compared with the Con group. The quantification of TGF-β expression (I). The data are expressed as the mean ± SEM; * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001