Stem cell therapy targets the neointimal smooth muscle cells in experimentally induced atherosclerosis: involvement of intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)

Figures

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  Figure 1. Characterization and homing of bone marrow smooth muscle cells (BM-MSCs) in aortic tissue of rats experimentally induced with atherosclerosis. Morphological and histological staining of differentiated BM-MSCs into undifferentiated MSCs (A), and MSCs differentiated into osteoblasts stained with Alizarin red stain (B), chondrocytes stained with Alcian blue stain, and (C), adipocytes stained with oil red stain (D). Flow cytometry charts for cells CD29+ve (E), CD34-ve (F), CD90 +ve (G), and CD105 +ve (H). I, Photomicrograph of a section of aorta from atherosclerotic group treated with stem cells showing positive immunofluorescent. Scale bar 250 μm.

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  Figure 2. Protein levels of macrophage-colony stimulating factor 1 (MCSF-1) (A), intracellular adhesion molecule (ICAM) (B), and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM) (C) in groups of rats experimentally induced with atherosclerosis, treated with stem cells or resveratrol, and control. Data are reported as means±SE. aP<0.05 compared to control group; bP<0.05 compared to atherosclerotic group (ANOVA).

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  Figure 3. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) (A), COX-2 (B), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) (C) in rats experimentally induced with atherosclerosis and treated with stem cells or resveratrol. Data are reported as means±SE. aP<0.05 compared to control group; bP<0.05 compared to atherosclerotic group (ANOVA).

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  Figure 4. DNA fragmentation (%) in rats experimentally induced with atherosclerosis and treated with stem cells or resveratrol. Data are reported as means±SE. aP<0.05 compared to control group; bP<0.05 compared to atherosclerotic group (ANOVA).

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  Figure 5. Histological changes of aortas of rats experimentally induced with atherosclerosis. A, Control group: three layers forming wall of aorta: tunica intima (TI), tunica media (TM) formed of concentrically-arranged smooth muscle, and tunica adventitia (TA) (H&E, ×200, scale bar 200 μm). B, Atherosclerotic group: desquamation and destruction of tunica intima with underlying lamina propria (1); tunica media shows a deposition of fat (2) with appearance of foam cells (3) (H&E, ×400, scale bar 50 μm). C, Stem cells-treated group: the slide shows normal appearance of the TI with no desquamation, TM appears with normal thickness with very little fat infiltration (head of black arrow) and no detected foam cells (H&E, ×400, scale bar 50 μm). D, Resveratrol-treated group: TI appears intact with no destruction or desquamation (1). Presence of foam cells in the TM (2) and increased thickness of the TA (3) (H&E ×400, scale bar 50 μm).