Fig. 5

Differentiation of CD117⁺ TSCs into cardiomyocytes in vitro.a Phase-contrast images showing morphologic change of cells before (Undiff, top row, left) and after differentiation (Diff, top row, right) in cardiomyocyte differentiation medium for 12 days. After differentiation, representative images of immunofluorescence staining for cTnT (green, middle row, left) and Sar α-actinin (green, middle row, right), merged with DAPI for nuclear staining (blue). Bottom panels show the confocal images of differentiated cells staining for cTnT (white, bottom row, left) and Sar α-actinin (white, bottom row, right). Red arrows highlight areas of striations. b Bar graph showing the quantitation of qRT-PCR for cTnT and Sar α-actinin in fold change comparing differentiated (Diff, black bars) to undifferentiated cells (Undiff, open bar). * P < 0.05 compared to their undifferentiated cells, n = 4~5 for each group