Figure 4
HUMSC-NC transplantation reduced Aβ deposition and soluble Aβ levels. (A) Thioflavin S staining for senile plaques of cerebral cortex and hippocampus in the mice. The staining was performed according to the description in the Methods section. Images were captured with a camera system connected to a fluorescence microscope (Olympus 1×71S1F-3, Japan). Scale bar, 200 μm. (B) Quantification of thioflavin S staining. The plaque burden was calculated as the percentage of thioflavin S staining area over the total area (n = 6 in each group). Image Pro Plus 6 (Media Cybernetics) was used to analyze the images. (C, D) ELISA for soluble Aβ40(C) and Aβ42(D) in the cortex and hippocampus. Mouse brain tissue was homogenized, and soluble protein was extracted. Aβ ELISA kits (Invitrogen) was used to determine the levels of Aβ40 and Aβ42 (n = 6 in each group). Data are presented as mean ± SEM; *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; HUMSC-NC-treated group versus PBS-treated group.