Fig. 2
Visualization of 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3,-tetrametlylindodicarbocyanine-5,5-disulfonic acid (DID)-labeled cell depots in whole urethras using in vivo imaging system. a Each image represents one urethra cut into fragments. The yellow spots illustrate the areas with the strongest DID-derived fluorescence. The darker the spot, the weaker the signal. The specific fluorescence was identified using an automated spectral separation algorithm. The images are presented after manual alignment to the same, fixed ranges. The color scale bar shows the range of strongest to weakest signal (1 × 108- 1 × 109). The upper row presents urethras collected 28 days after either PBS injection (negative control) or transplantation of different cells types - muscle derived cells (MDCs), mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or MDC-MSC co-transplantation. The lower row presents urethras collected 84 days after injection. The best samples from each group were selected for this figure. b Intensity of DID-derived fluorescence in urethras from different experimental groups and different time points. The data are presented as mean (+/− SEM) total radiant efficiency (TRE, (photons/s)/(μW/cm2)) normalized to control, PBS-injected samples and adjusted to the number of injected DID-labeled cells. *p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001; ns, not statistically significant