Fig. 2

Ex vivo NIRF imaging of BMSCs in the lung. a A diagram of experimental protocol. The serial fluorescence images were also obtained in ex vivo organs (lung, live, kidney, spleen, heart) at designated time points. b DiR-BMSCs were predominantly distributed to the lung region, declined dramatically by days 3. Scale bar = 2 cm. c Quantification of the fluorescence intensity in the lung at 1 h, 6 h, 24 h, 3 days, 15 days, and 30 days. Compared with the DiR-BMSCs + control group, the fluorescence intensity in the lung was apparently increased in the DiR-BMSCs + silica group. The data were presented as the means ± SD. **p < 0.01 versus the DiR-BMSCs + control group