Figure 1.

Tunneling nanotube (TNT) formation and mitochondria transfer from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to glioblastoma stem cells (GSC).

MSCs and GSCs were labeled beforehand, resp. with red MitoTracker CMXRos and green CellTracker CMFDA. The coculture was performed for 48h and fluorescence microscopy was performed on the fixed cells, using a Leica SPE confocal microscope. A TNT connection is observed between the two cell types. The lower frame shows a different MitoTracker and CellTracker exposure that allows the observation of MSC mitochondria (in red) observed inside the TNT and the glioblastoma cell. Scale bar = 50 μm.