Fig. 5

Successful long-term maintenance of muscle function in hAMSC-treated DMD mice. A Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle of 1-year-old control mdx and hAMSC-treated mdx (four or six time treatments; hAMSC-mdx-4 or hAMSC-mdx-6) mice. Original magnification, × 100. Scale bars, 200 μm. B Quantification of mononuclear cell infiltration in the cross-section (% of total area) of the TA muscle of 1-year-old WT (n = 7), control mdx (n = 14), and hAMSC-treated mdx (hAMSC-mdx-4 or -6; n = 4, each) mice. C Quantification of CNFs (% of total area) of the TA muscle of 1-year-old control mdx (n = 7) and four-time hAMSC-treated mdx (hAMSC-mdx-4, n = 5) mice. D Grip strength (gram, g) and E normalized grip strength (g/g body weight, BW) of 1-year-old WT (n = 7), control mdx (n = 12), and 4 and 6 times hAMSC-treated mdx mice (hAMSC-mdx-4, -6, n = 8). F, G, H Voluntary running activity in 1-year-old WT, control mdx (n = 10), and hAMSC-treated mdx mice reached the (F) maximum running speed (m/min; WT, n = 3; control mdx, n = 12; hAMSC-mdx-4, -6, n = 8), G daily running distance (m/day; WT, n = 4; control mdx, n = 10; hAMSC-mdx-4, -6, n = 8) and H average running distance (m/min; WT, n = 3; control mdx, n = 5; hAMSC-mdx-4, -6, n = 5). All data are presented as the mean ± SD; statistical differences are expressed relative to WT (^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001, and ^****P < 0.0001) and control mdx (^#P < 0.05, and ^##P < 0.01) mice; ns, not significant; one-way ANOVA (Tukey’s post hoc test)