Fig. 3

Neurite extensions of dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) seeded on nanofiber NF scaffold upon coculture with multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs) or combination of MPCs/endothelial cells (ECs) (1:1). The presence of MPCs, particularly after their neurotrophic induction, increased the length of DRG neurite extensions (a) over DRG control (acellular (Acell.) control/basal medium) cultures (b). EC coculture (c) slightly but not significantly increased DRG neurite extension length. MPC and neurotrophically-induced MPC (nMPC) coculture significantly increased neurite extension length when compared to the control. For xMPC-DRG coculture, EC coculture slightly but insignificantly increased neurite extension length. DRGs cocultured with both nMPC and EC (nMPC-EC-DRG cocultures; d) exhibited significantly longer neurite extensions than MPC-DRG or MPC-EC-DRG cocultures. a n = 4; Sidak’s p values as indicated. b–d Scale bars = 400 μm for representative NEFH-stained images