Figure 5.

BM‐MSC therapy enhanced migration of nonirradiated and irradiated fibroblasts from skin biopsy samples. Fibroblasts were plated to confluence and mechanically “wounded” by scraping with a 200 µl pipette tip. Transwell inserts were added to fibroblasts containing BM‐MSCs at confluence. (A): Representative α‐SMA immunostaining of nonirradiated and irradiated fibroblasts cocultured 24 hours with BM‐MSCs. Image magnification ×200. (B): Representative photomicrograph of the wound edge in the scratch assay at 6, 24, 30, 48, and 72 hours without and with MSC coculture. MSC significantly enhanced migration in both nonirradiated and irradiated fibroblasts. The migration rate is represented as percent scratch closure. Results are expressed as means ± SEM. p values were calculated by analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction, *, p < .01; **, p < .001 compared with nonirradiated controls; #, p < .05; ##, p <.01 compared with irradiated fibroblasts. Abbreviations: α‐SMA, alpha smooth muscle actin; BM‐MSC, bone marrow‐derived mesenchymal stromal cell; MSC, mesenchymal stromal cell.