Fig. 2

Osteopontin (OPN) increased neural stem cell (NSC) numbers via CXCR4 signaling. a Left panel: Untreated NSC (control) were stained with Hoechst (blue), while dead NSC were additionally labeled with propidium iodide (red), allowing calculation of a ratio of viable NSC. Middle panel: After treatment with 6.25 μg/ml OPN for 72 h, the number of viable NSC was increased. Right panel: Addition of AMD3100 to OPN-treated NSC abrogated this effect (scale bar represents 100 μm). b OPN at concentrations of 6.25 and 12.5 μg/ml significantly increased the numbers of NSC compared to control. Blocking CXCR4 with AMD 3100 for 1 h prior to OPN treatment completely abrogated the positive effect of OPN on NSC numbers, while AMD 3100 alone had no effect (values displayed as means ± SEM; *p < 0.05)