Figure 2.

bFGF promotes Sca-1⁺ CSC migration in vitro. (A) Cell migration index of Sca-1⁺ CSC treated with different bFGF concentrations. *P<0.05 vs. 15 ng/ml. (B) Western blot analysis of p-Akt and Akt at different time points following incubation with 45 ng/ml bFGF and quantification of p-Akt/Akt ratio. *P<0.05 vs. 0 min. (C) Cell migration assay and quantification. All migrated cells were stained purple with 0.1% hexamethylpararosaniline. Each assay was performed in triplicate wells and repeated three times. *P<0.05, with comparisons indicated by lines. bFGF, basic fibroblast growth factor; CSC, cardiac stem cells; p-, phosphorylated; Akt, protein kinase B.