Fig. 6

Proliferation and metabolic activity of MSCs cocultured with MNCs before and after LPS treatment. a After lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure, there was an increase in proliferation in the cocultures with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and cell death in the mononuclear cell (MNC) alone group; the ‘Uninjured’ group generated significantly more cells than the ‘Injured Untreated’ group (p < 0.001). Additionally, in the ‘Uninjured’ group, significantly more cells were generated after LPS exposure, whereas no differences were detected among the ‘Injured’ MSCs. b The metabolic activity was significantly higher (before and after LPS exposure) in ‘Injured Untreated’ MSCs (p < 0.001). Within each group, a significant increase in the metabolic activity of MNCs was observed after LPS exposure (p < 0.0001), while the metabolic activity was significantly decreased in ‘Uninjured’ and ‘Injured Untreated’ cocultures. c Overlaid fluorescent live/dead images showing viable cytoplasm in green, while the nuclei of dead cells are stained red. Increased cell death is seen following LPS exposures in all groups; scale bars = 500 μm. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001. Relative quotient