Fig. 5

Immunohistochemical evaluation for GFAP, and western blot analysis for nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and claudin-5. Immunohistochemical evaluation for GFAP tissue expression reveals an increased GFAP tissue localization in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice (b) compared to the naive group (a). On the contrary, reduced expression of GFAP was observed in mice that received human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) (c). NGF and BDNF levels were appreciably increased in brain samples taken from mice administered with hPDLSCs, while mice subjected to EAE showed reduced levels of these neurotrophic factors (d, e). *p < 0.0103 vs naive; **p < 0.0065 vs EAE; **p < 0.0022 vs naive; **p < 0.0017 vs EAE. A basal level of claudin-5 production was found in brain samples collected from naive mice. Brain levels of claudin-5 increased in animals treated with hPDLSCs (f) more than in EAE mice. *p < 0.0251, **p < 0.0022 vs naive; *p < 0.0114 vs EAE. GAPDH was used as the internal control