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Fig. 3 | Stem Cell Research & Therapy

Fig. 3

From: Osteopontin mediates survival, proliferation and migration of neural stem cells through the chemokine receptor CXCR4

Fig. 3

Osteopontin (OPN) increased both survival and proliferation of neural stem cells (NSC). a NSC were treated with OPN at 6.25 μg/ml for 72 h. Quantitative PCR revealed that OPN treatment led to an increase in Ki67-mRNA, compared to untreated NSC (values displayed as means ± SEM; **p < 0.01). b At the protein level, the percentage of Ki67-positive cells was significantly increased after treatment with 6.25 μg/ml OPN for 72 h (values displayed as means ± SEM; **p < 0.01). c Adult male rats injected with a single dose of 500 μg OPN intracerebroventricularly displayed a significantly higher number of proliferating NSC in the SVZ as the major NSC niche, corroborating the effects of OPN on NSC proliferation in vivo (values displayed as means ± SEM; **p < 0.01). d Representative images from the SVZ of rats treated with either placebo (left) or OPN (right; scale bar represents 200 μm). e NSC cultures were exposed to oxidative stress by H2O2 (300 nM for 24 h), increasing cell death as assessed by propidium iodide staining. Pre-treatment of NSC with 6.25 μg/ml OPN 24 h prior to oxidative stress completely rescued NSC from this toxicity, while simultaneously addition of OPN and H2O2 prevented about half the cells from dying (values displayed as means ± SEM; *p < 0.05). f NSC cultures were plated at very low density (266 cells/cm2). The numbers of living and dead cells were assessed by Hoechst and propidium iodide staining. Treatment with 6.25 μg/ml OPN led to a significantly higher number of viable NSC after 8 days of incubation (values displayed as means ± SEM; *p < 0.05). g NSC plated at very low density in the presence or absence of OPN at 6.25 μg/ml were assessed morphologically after 8 days. NSC adapted a slightly branched morphology under the stress conditions of very low density plating, independent of OPN treatment (scale bars represent 50 μm). BrdU bromodeoxyuridine

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