Fig. 1

Characterisation of the stem cells. a Immunostaining for mesenchymal stem cell markers CD73, CD90, CD105 (green) and putative adipose stem cell potency marker CD34 (green) with DAPI nuclei staining (blue) showing all cells in the field. Cultures could be differentiated into adipocytes (Oil Red O staining for lipids) and osteoblasts (Alazarin Red staining highlighting areas of mineralisation). b Undifferentiated adipose stem cells (uADSCs), Schwann-cell like differentiated adipose stem cells (dADSCs) and primary Schwann cells stained with the Schwann cell markers SOX10, S100 and GFAP (green) and DAPI (blue). Insert Sox10 staining shows strong nuclear staining for the transcription factor. Note the elongated morphology of dADSCs, more characteristic of Schwann cells compared with cell shape of uADSCs shown in A. Scale bar in A and B is 50 μm