Figure 3.

Characterization of UCMSCs cultured with hepatogenic medium on Matrigel™. (A) Undifferentiated and differentiated cell morphology. Optical analyses showed morphological changes after 14 days in hepatogenic medium. (B) Immunocytochemical analyses for α-fetoprotein (AFP) and albumin of UCMSCs cultured on Matrigel™ with proliferative or differentiating medium. AFP was never detected in either proliferative (untreated) or differentiating medium. Albumin protein was expressed only by differentiated cells after 14 days. (C) PAS staining for glycogen storage. UCMSCs cultured with differentiating medium on Matrigel™ displayed a positive reaction to PAS staining, revealing glycogen storage in their cytoplasm. Untreated cells were negative for PAS staining. Scale bar: 100 μm