Fig. 2

Immunofluorescent staining of WJ-MSC differentiation into EEC-like cells in the coculture system. (A) Cells in the three groups stained with anti-vimentin antibodies (green), anti-CD13 (red), and the Hoechst nuclear dye (blue). Merged images displayed in the fourth column. (B) Cells in the three groups stained with anti-cytokeratin antibodies (green), anti-CD9 (red), and the Hoechst nuclear dye (blue). Group a, WJ-MSCs cultured both in the bottom and the membrane of the coculture system in control media: WJ-MSCs showed strong positive staining for vimentin, CD13, cytokeratin, and CD9. Group b, WJ-MSCs cocultured with ESCs in control medium: cells still positively stained by vimentin, CD13, cytokeratin, and CD9. Group c, WJ-MSCs cocultured with ESCs in the differentiation medium: cells strongly positively stained by cytokeratin and CD9 but weakly stained by vimentin and CD13. Bar represents 200 μm