Fig. 7.

In vitroadipogenic differentiation of UCSCs and infant BMSCs

The expression levels of adipose-related genes, including peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) (A) and lipoprotein lipase (LPL), in UCSCs and infant BMSCs after treatment with the adipogenic-induced medium (AIM) for 21 days were detected using RT-qPCR. The expression values of each gene were normalized to the expression of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). The gene expression of undifferentiated cells was used as the standard for comparison with that of the UCSC- and infant BMSC-differentiated adipocyte-like cells, and the relative fold changes were presented. Statistical differences were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test for the following groups: differences between UCSCs in the control and AIM groups, differences between infant BMSCs in the control and AIM groups, differences between UCSCs and infant BMSCs in the control groups, and differences between UCSCs and infant BMSCs in the AIM groups. (C) Undifferentiated UCSCs and infant BMSCs were used as controls and stained with Oil Red O. The 21-day adipogenic differentiated UCSCs and infant BMSCs were confirmed with Oil Red O staining and observed using a Nikon Eclipse TS100 microscope (magnification × 200, scale bar = 25 μm). (D) The Oil Red O staining was extracted from the stained cells, and the optical density (OD) was measured at a wavelength of 510 nm. The OD of differentiated cells was normalized to that of undifferentiated cells, and the relative fold changes were presented. Mean ± SEM with three experimental replicates were expressed. Statistical significance in comparing the UCSC- and infant BMSC-differentiated adipogenic cells was determined using the Mann-Whitney U test. “ ∗" represented p < 0.05.