Fig. 3.

Effects of membrane-specific cholesterol and caveolin-1 (CAV-1) perturbation on membrane cholesterol levels in five MSC experimental groups: untreated MSCs, cholesterol-depleted MSCs (MβCD), cholesterol-enriched MSCs (Chol), MSCs transfected with control, nonspecific siRNA (si Ctrl), and MSCs transfected with CAV-1 siRNA (si CAV-1). a Membrane cholesterol content in washed cells was measured and quantified using the Amplex red cholesterol assay and compared with untreated or si Ctrl cells (100%). Data represent mean ± SD; n = 9. *p < 0.005, **p < 0.001, versus untreated group; ^#p < 0.05, versus si Ctrl group. b Cells were fluorescently stained with filipin for cholesterol (blue) and phalloidin for filamentous actin (green). The scale bar shown represents 50 μm and applies to all panels; (n > 4). These results showed that siRNA-mediated knockdown of CAV-1 gene expression significantly decreased membrane cholesterol levels in MSCs