Fig. 4

Thicker dermis appears in the skin formed from transplantation of early-stage TESSs. a–d Representative H&E-stained images of the dermis formed from the transplantation of different stages of TESSs at 4 (a) and 8 weeks (c) after transplantation. Blue dashed bars indicate the thickness of the dermis measured, and the averages of dermis thickness (n = 3) at 4 and 8 weeks are shown in b and d, respectively. e, g Representative images of IF staining of vimentin (green) in the dermis with DAPI staining (blue). f, h Corresponding quantification of vimentin-positive cells per high-power field (× 400) in a light microscope from e for 4 and g for 8 weeks after transplantation, respectively. i, j Representative images of Masson’s trichome staining of the dermis formed for collagen fibers (blue) from the transplantation of different stages of TESSs at 4 (i) and at 8 weeks (j) after transplantation. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.005 when two groups were compared as indicated; none of the other comparisons was significantly different (3 mice for each group, n = 3); bars = 50 μm