Fig. 4

Effects of transplanted Nestin⁺ and Nestin⁻ BMSCs on cardiac remodeling after MI. a HE staining of hearts showing inflammatory cells infiltration in different groups (n = 3 for each group). Scale bar, 100 μm. b The number of inflammatory cells showed no difference among the three groups. Cells were calculated from five randomly different fields under microscopic observation (× 400). Data are shown as the mean ± SEM of triplicate experiments. c TUNEL staining of infarcted zone showing the changes in apoptosis cells in different groups (n = 3). Scale bar, 20 μm. d The number of apoptosis cells showing the reduction of TUNEL-positive cells in Nestin⁺ BMSC group. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM from five different fields. e Immunofluorescence staining of cells positive for Sca-1 (green), CM-Dil (red), and DAPI (blue) in the post-MI myocardium after Nestin⁺ or Nestin⁻ BMSC transplantation (n = 3 for each group). Scale bar, 50 μm. f Percentage of Sca-1-positive cells showing the accumulation of Sca-1⁺ cells in Nestin⁺ BMSC group. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM from five different fields. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ****p < 0.0001. g The percentage of CD31 expression in Sca-1⁺ cells, which were isolated from the infarcted heart in the Nestin⁺ BMSC-treated group