Fig. 3.

Donor cell behaviors after MSC-dressing therapy. Heart samples after MSC transplantation in a rat post-MI ischemic heart failure model were collected and analyzed by histological assessment for donor cell behaviors. The DR-4m and IM-4m groups were transplanted with 4 × 10⁶ rat amnion-derived MSCs at 4 weeks after induction of MI by the MSC-dressing therapy or IM injection, respectively. The DR-0 group received transplantation of fibrin sealant film only, while the Sham group received no treatment. Donor MSCs were pre-labeled with CM-DiI (red). (a) Immunohistostaining identifying donor MSC survival in the DR-4m group. Scale bars = 1 mm (upper panel) and 100 μm (lower panel). (b) Presence and distribution of donor MSCs in the IM-4m group detected by immunohistostaining. Scale bar = 1 mm. (c) Donor MSC presence (Y-axis) representing the CM-DiI-positive area calculated from day 3 immunohistostaining images. n = 5 in each group, *p < 0.05, Student's t-test. (d, e) Immunostaining for cleaved caspase 3 (c-caspase 3; d) and Ki67 (e) showing apoptosis and proliferation of donor MSCs (white arrows) at day 3 post-treatment. % c-caspase 3⁺ MSCs and Ki67⁺ MSCs (Y-axis) represent the ratio of the c-caspase 3⁺ and Ki67⁺ cells among the CM-DiI⁺ cells. Scale bars = 50 μm, n = 5 in each group, *p < 0.05, N.S. = not significant, Student's t-test. . (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)