Fig. 4

Apol8 promotes neuronal differentiation of transplanted NSCs in vivo. a Patterns of neuronal differentiation of Apol8-NSCs. b Apol8 overexpression in NSCs mediated by lentivirus. Scale bars, 50 μm. c NSCs with or without Apol8 were loaded onto LOCS. d LOCS grafts loaded with NSCs were transplanted in the injury site after SCI. e Two weeks after transplantation, the spinal cord was dissected, and DCX and GFAP expression was determined by immunofluorescence staining. Scale bars are 50 μm or 20 μm. f Percentage of GFP(+)DCX(+)/GFP(+) cells in e. g Percentage of GFP(+)GFAP(+)/GFP(+) cells in e. h Eight weeks after transplantation, the spinal cord was dissected, and TUJ1, NeuN, and GFAP expression was determined by immunofluorescence staining. Scale bars are 50 μm or 20 μm. i Percentage of GFP(+)Tuj-1(+)/GFP(+) cells in h. j Percentage of GFP(+)NeuN(+)/GFP(+) cells in h. k Percentage of GFP(+)GFAP(+)/GFP(+) cells in h. l Transplantation of Apol8-NSCs on LOCS promotes the formation of synaptic structures in the injured site. Scale bars, 15 μm. Error bars represent the mean ± SD