Fig. 9

Immunofluorescence analysis of inflammation and apoptosis. Representative images of Iba-1 (a-d) and TUNEL (e-h) immunostained longitudinal sections from the control, single injhection (SI), repeated injections at 3-day intervals (3RI) and repeated injections at 7-day intervals (7RI) groups. Quantitative analysis of the Iba-1⁺/4,6-diamino-2-phenyl indole (DAPI)⁺ (i) and TUNEL⁺/DAPI⁺ (j) cell numbers in the epicentre of the lesion (***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 versus the other three groups; ^#p < 0.05, ^##p < 0.01 versus the 3RI group). The results show that human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB-MSC) transplantation inhibited microglial/macrophage infiltration and apoptosis. Scale bar = 100 μm