Figure 5.

Obestatin Regulates Self-Renewal and Expansion of Transplanted Human Muscle Cells

(Upper panels) Representative sections are stained for Lamin A/C and Pax7 after intramuscular injection of obestatin (300 nmol/kg body weight/24 hr during 5 days; n = 5 per group) or control (DMEM) at 21 days following human myoblast transplantation. Human Lamin A/C/Pax7 double-positive cells (Pax7⁺/Lamin AC⁺) localized underneath the basal lamina of myofibers, i.e., satellite cells from human origin, are indicated with white arrowheads. Pax7⁺/Lamin AC⁺ nuclei localized at the periphery of the muscle fiber are indicated with orange arrowheads. Pax7-positive and Lamin A/C-negative (Pax7⁺/Lamin AC⁻) nuclei localized underneath the basal lamina of myofibers are indicated with yellow arrowheads. Pax7-negative and Lamin A/C-positive (Pax7⁻/Lamin AC⁺) nuclei localized underneath the basal lamina of myofibers are indicated with cyan arrowheads. Bottom panels show quantification of the number of Pax7⁺ cells, Pax7⁺/Lamin AC⁺ cells, the % of Pax7⁺/Lamin AC⁺ cells underneath the basal lamina, and the number of Pax7⁺/Lamin AC⁻ cells normalized per 100 TA muscle fibers (n = 5 per group). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 5 per group). *p < 0.05 versus control values.