Fig. 5

PICs are bi-potent. a–c Representative light microscope images of skeletal myogenic differentiated bulk (a), clonal (b), and sub-clonal (c) PICs. Scale bar = 200 μm. d Representative confocal micrograph showing differentiation of C9 PICs into skeletal muscle and smooth muscle lineage positive cells (myosin heavy chain (MHC), α-sarcomeric actin (α-sarc), smooth muscle actin (SMA), and calponin, all red). Scale bar = 50 μm. e Quantification of differentiated cells in bulk, clonal, and sub-clonal PIC populations. Data are mean ± SD; n = 3. (f) qRT-PCR transcript analysis for muscle markers MHC, α-sarc, SMA, and desmin after 5 days of directed myogenic differentiation of bulk, clonal, and sub-clonal PICs. Bars represent the mean relative expression normalised to GAPDH. Error bars represent the standard deviation of the mean; n = 3. g Fold-change in transcript copy number for MHC, α-sarc, SMA, and desmin over undifferentiated PICs. Data are mean ± SD; n = 3