Fig. 9

The effect of mMSCs overexpressing TGFβ1 on lung fibrosis in ARDS mice. a Lung fibrosis was evaluated by Masson’s trichrome staining at 7 days after LPS exposure (× 200). A blue signal indicated positive staining for collagen, and a red signal represented muscle fibrosis and cellulose. b The quantification of lung fibrosis is shown as an Ashcroft score (n = 10, *p < 0.05 compared with the control group; ^#p < 0.05 compared with the ARDS group). c Collagen I and d α-SMA mRNA in lungs was quantified by qRT-PCR (n = 3 at each time-point for each group; *p < 0.05 compared with the control group; ^#p < 0.05 compared with the ARDS group; ^δp < 0.05 compared with the LPS + mBM-MSC-NC group). ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome; α-SMA, alpha smooth muscle actin; mMSCs, mouse mesenchymal stem cells; NC, normal control