Figure 2.

CFTR expression in NHBEs, hMSCs, and hMSC/NHBE hybrid cells. A–F) Examples of GFP-positive heterokaryons that express CFTR (red). Arrowheads (D-F): hMSCs do not express CFTR. G–I) Some GFP-positive heterokaryons express low or undetectable levels of CFTR (arrow). Insets (C, F, I): DAPI staining demonstrates multiple nuclei in fused cells. J) NHBE control cells and hMSC/NHBE hybrid cells express CFTR mRNA transcripts, but hMSCs cultured alone do not. GAPDH amplification and a GAPDH PCR reaction in which the reverse transcriptase was omitted (No RT) are shown as positive and negative PCR controls.