Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 2 pp 2822—2850

Figure 5. shRac1 improves neuron survival by promoting BMMSCs transplant survival after transplantation into TBI mice. (A) Images representing surviving BMMSCs-shLuci and BMMSCs-shRac1 at 3, 7 and 21 DPT. Surviving BMMSCs in the lesional site were labeled with mCherry (red) and counterstained with DAPI (blue). Lesional boundaries were outlined by a continuous imaginary line. The upper right corner insert shows a zoomed-in image of the local area with a scale bar of 100μm. (B) mCherry (+) cell counts per field showed more BMMSCs-shRac1 cells survived than the BMMSCs-shLuci cells at day 3, day 7 and day 21 (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, statistically analyzed by the Student’s t-test, n = 6). (C) Representative images of the surviving neurons at 3, 7 and 21 DPT, neuron surviving in the lesion location were labeled with NeuN (green) and counterstained with DAPI (blue). The upper right corner insert shows a zoomed-in image of the local area with scale bar of 100 μm. (D) NeuN (+)/DAPI ratio was higher for mice transplanted with BMMSCs-shRac1 than those transplanted with parental BMMSCs and BMMSCs-shLuci at different time points. (N.S. no significance, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, #P < 0.05 versus parental BMMSCs transplanted group, statistically analyzed by Student’s t-test, n = 6). Data are presented as mean ± SD.