Fig. 3

Overexpression of CCR2 in MSCs and MSC^CCR2 exhibit enhanced migration toward CCL2 in vitro. MSCs were transduced with lentiviral vectors encoding CCR2-eGFP (referred to as MSC^CCR2) or eGFP (referred to as MSC^vector). A qRT-PCR was used to analyze the mRNA expression level of CCR2 in MSC^vector and MSC^CCR2. The data are representative of three independent experiments. B Total cell lysates of MSC^vector and MSC^CCR2 were analyzed by Western blot analysis of the CCR2 protein. The experiment was performed three times; a representative blot is shown. C Flow cytometry was used to analyze the level of cell-surface CCR2 protein expression on MSC^vector and MSC^CCR2. The experiment was repeated three times. D Transwell assays were performed to detect the in vitro migration of MSC^vector and MSC^CCR2 toward recombinant human CCL2 (hCCL2) or murine CCL2 (mCCL2). Transwell filters were stained with 0.1% crystal violet. Scale bar: 200 µm. E Quantification of migrated cells. All data are presented as the mean ± SD. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, and n.s. means nonsignificant