Fig. 2

DiD labeling had no influence on differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (haMSCs) in vitro. a Unlabeled and labeled haMSCs differentiated similarly under osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic conditions, producing robust mineralized matrix-large lipid droplets, and condensing chondrocytes detecting by Alizarin Red S staining, Oil Red O staining, and Alcian Blue staining, respectively. Differentiated haMSCs retained the DiD label, as fluorescence was detected at the end of each differentiation (scale bar = 100 μm). b At the end of culturing, the osteogenic, adipogenic, and chondrogenic gene markers, OSTEOCALCIN, ADIPONECTIN, and CAL2A1 in labeled haMSCs were upregulated during osteogenesis, adipogenesis, and chondrogenesis, respectively. No significant difference was seen between the labeled and unlabeled haMSCs for the differentiation potential, except for the adiponectin expression where labeled haMSCs showed slightly less expression than the unlabeled cells. The P values were obtained using one-way ANOVA analysis of variance (*P < 0.05). Data were collected from three repetitions (n = 3). ns nonsignificant