Figure 3.

In vivo imaging analyses of changes in the transplanted cells and histological analyses of spinal cord volume and differentiation profile

(A) Quantitative analyses of the IVIS photon counts of the transplanted cells as percentage changes compared with the day of transplantation (LOTUS group; n = 8, control group; n = 6).

(B) Representative images of the IVIS photon counts up to 49 days.

(C) Representative images of immunostaining for STEM121 in the sagittal sections 54 days after transplantation.

(D) Representative images of H&E staining of the axial sections at 4 mm rostral, epicenter and 4 mm rostral to the epicenter.

(E) Quantitative analyses of the spinal cord area (LOTUS group; n = 5, control group; n = 5, PBS group n = 5).

(F) Representative images of immunostaining for each group at the injury site. HNA-positive transplanted cells were stained with Ki67, Nestin, HuC/HuD, GFAP, and APC. Nuclei were stained with Hoechst.

(G) The percentages of each marker-positive cells among the HNA-positive transplanted cells at 54 days after transplantation (LOTUS group; n = 5, control group; n = 5). Scale bars, 1,000 μm in (C), 500 μm in (D), and 20 μm in (F). Values are the mean ± SEM; ^∗p < 0.05, ^∗∗p < 0.01. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey-Kramer test in (E) and Mann-Whitney U test in (G).