Fig. 1
The optimal condition of HS pretreatment did not affect the viability and biological characteristics of UC-MSCs. a The fibroblast-like morphology and multi-differentiation potential of cultured UC-MSCs. Oil red O staining of UC-MSCs cultured in medium that specifically induced adipogenesis 14 days. Alizarin Red solution staining of UC-MSCs cultured in medium that specifically induced osteogenesis for 21 days. UC-MSC pellets induced chondrogenesis 28 days stained with toluidine blue (scale bar = 100 μm). b Flow cytometry analysis of the surface markers of UC-MSCs. c The procedure for obtaining HS-pretreated UC-MSCs. d Representative images of HS-pretreated UC-MSCs, which differentiated via adipogenesis, osteogenesis, and chondrogenesis (scale bar = 100 μm). e Flow cytometry analysis of the surface markers of HS-pretreated UC-MSCs. f UC-MSCs and HS-pretreated UC-MSCs were subjected to a CCK-8 assay after 0, 1, and 2 days of culture to assess cellular viability. g The apoptosis rate of each group was detected using Annexin V/propidium iodide staining. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM. ns, not significant (all p values were obtained by unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test)