Fig. 4

MSCs reduce neuronal death in vivo and in vitro. Mice undergoing different treatments were euthanized at 6 dpi. a The survival rate of neurons was detected with anti-NeuN antibody staining. b The TUNEL assay was performed to detect neuronal apoptosis, and the sections from each group were analyzed with ImageJ. The positively stained cells were counted (PBS n= 3, JEV n = 6, JEV + MSC n= 6; three sections per mouse, five fields per section). c The total protein of whole brain tissue was extracted, and the expression levels of the active caspase-3 subunit P17 (caspase-3 p17) and BCL2 in the brains of each group were detected by Western blot (PBS n= 1, JEV n= 2, JEV + MSC n= 2). d Neuro2a cells were cultured via transwells either with or without MSCs and were infected with JEV at MOI = 1. After 48 h, annexin V/PI staining was performed, and the mean of the survival rate was summarized from three independent experiments. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. BCL2 B-cell lymphoma-2 protein, JEV Japanese encephalitis virus, MSC mesenchymal stem cell, NeuN neuron-specific nuclear protein, PBS phosphate-buffered saline, PI propidium iodide