Research Paper Volume 14, Issue 2 pp 1014—1032

Figure 8. Detection of age-related changes in BMSCs and verification of gene expression. (A) Morphological alterations were observed under a phase-contrast microscope (scale bar = 100 μm). (B) The cell areas were obviously increased in the old BMSCs, and (C) the cell aspect ratios were clearly decreased. (D–E) SA-β-gal staining (scale bar = 100 μm). Senescent cells are stained blue. Compared with young cells, the proportion of positive cells in old BMSCs was significantly elevated. (F) RT-qPCR analyses of mRNA expression of the age-related factor pl6^INK4A. BMSCs obtained from aged rats expressed elevated levels of pl6^INK4A. (G)RT-qPCR detected the expression of the DEGs. Data indicate the mean ± SD, n = 3. ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001 vs. Young (Y).