FIG. 4.
AD-MSC differentiation into SMC is decreased for diabetic patients. Diabetic AD-MSCs displayed a less efficacious SMC differentiation compared to healthy AD-MSCs in terms of the expression of calponin [(A) immunofluorescence for calponin (green) with counterstained nuclei (blue)]. This was quantified by percentage of calponin expressing cells (B). In addition, upon differentiation, AD-MSCs did not acquire an SMC spindle morphology [(C) immunofluorescence for F-actin (green) with counterstained nuclei (blue)]. This was quantified by measuring the shape factor of the cells (4π×area/perimeter2, ∼0=ellipsoid, 1=circular) (D). SMCs inherently express calponin (green) and have a spindle-like morphology (E). Data are presented as mean±SEM with *, significant difference at p<0.05. n=4 was used per group for shape factor experiments. For calponin expression, n=7 was used for the healthy group and n=4 for the diabetic group. All scale bars=100 μm. Color images available online at www.liebertpub.com/tea