Fig. 3

WJ-MSCs differentiate into ESC-like cells. (A) Morphologic changes of WJ-MSCs. (a) Control group: cells still triangular and spindle-shaped. (b) 0.5 mM 8-Br-CAMP plus 10 nM 17β-estradiol (E2) and 10 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (EGF), 10 ng/ml transforming growth factor (TGF), and 10 ng/ml platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB): cells became shorter and slightly rounded at both ends. They become smaller and the cytoplasm was reduced. (c) 0.5 mM 8-Br-CAMP group: cells had a similar trend to Group b but less obvious. (d) 10 nM 17β-E2 and 10 ng/ml EGF, 10 ng/ml TGF, and 10 ng/ml PDGF-BB group: cells longer and narrower than the control group. They were arranged in a disordered pattern. Bar represents 200 μm. (B) Western blot analyses of cytokeratin, CD9, and vimentin in cell lysates isolated from WJ-MSCs in the four groups. Fusion protein detected with anti-cytokeratin (CK), anti-vimentin (Vim), and anti-CD13 antibodies, and anti-GAPDH (GD) antibody was used as a loading control. (C, D, E) Quantification of western blot and ELISA data representing three independent experiments. Error bars represent SEM. *p < 0.05. d days, PRL prolactin, IGFBP1 insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1