Figure 7.

Caspase 3 expression in the joint cartilage of mice in the (a) control group, (b) monosodium iodoacetate only group, and (c) monosodium iodoacetate + human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell group. At 35 days after the experiment, the mice were killed under anesthesia and the knees were removed for staining of caspase 3 in the cartilage. After monosodium iodoacetate treatment without human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplantation, the injured tissue was more strongly stained with caspase 3 than the human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell transplanted group and the control group. The amount of caspase 3 (d) in human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells-transplanted group was significantly lower than in the monosodium iodoacetate-treated group (***P < 0.001). Scale bar = 100 μm