Fig. 5

Exosomes from ASCs promote angiogenesis and M2 polarization in a mouse HLI model. After left femoral artery ligation, PBS, Nor/Exo, Hyp/Exo, or Hyp/Exo plus BLZ945 (BLZ945), an M2 polarization inhibitor that targets CSF-1R, was intramuscularly injected (n = 8). a Representative laser speckle images showing the different recovery of blood perfusion in the hind paws on the indicated days. b Quantitative analyses of the images showing the left/right ratio of plantar perfusion. c–f, The mice were euthanized 3 weeks post surgery. The sections of the adductor muscle from the ligated side were subjected to immunohistochemistry analysis for α-SMA, a smooth muscle marker, and CD31, an endothelial cell marker, and counterstained with Hoechst 33342 (c, scale bar 150 μm). Quantification of the arteriole number per square millimeter and the CD31⁺ area (d). The sections of the gastrocnemius muscle from the ligated side were subjected to immunohistochemistry analysis for CD31 and counterstained with Hoechst 33342 (e, scale bar 100 μm). Quantification of the CD31⁺ area (f). The CD31⁺ area on the slide from the mouse administered PBS was set to 1. g Flow cytometric analysis of the percentage of F4/80⁺ cells in cells dissociated from the adductor muscle. h The percentage of CD206⁺ cells in the F4/80⁺ cell population. GAPDH was used as a loading control. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001