Figure 2.

Wharton’s jelly-mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) alleviate hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced fibrosis. (a) Myotubes were treated with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂, 2 mM) to induce a fibrotic phenotype, and were co-cultured with WJ-MSCs for 24 h. Scale bar: 100 μm. (b) Representative Sirius red-staining images of myotubes under each condition. A picro-Sirius red staining kit was used to visualize deposition of collagens I and III. Quantitative measurements were made using Image J. Data are expressed mean ± SEM (n = 3). Bars with different superscripts are significantly different (one-way ANOVA followed by Duncan multiple range test, p < 0.05). Scale bar: 100 μm. (c–e) Protein levels of fibronectin and myosin heavy chain (MHC) were determined by immunoblotting and were normalized to beta-actin expression. Data are shown as mean ± SEM (n = 4). Bars with different superscripts are significantly different (one-way ANOVA followed by Duncan multiple range test, p < 0.05).