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. 2022 Mar 14;9:835976. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2022.835976

FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2

Identification and characterization of nucleus pulposus-derived exosomes and the uptake of exosomes in CEPCs. (A) Transmission electron micrograph of purified particles. The image showed small vesicles of approximately 100 nm in diameter (scale bar = 100 nm). (B) Size distribution of vesicles secreted by NPCs determined by NTA. The average particle size was 153.6 nm. (C) Expression of exosomes markers (CD9, CD63, and TSG101) and nuclear marker (Calnexin) detected by Western blot. The protein expression of exosomes markers was detectable in NPC exosomes but not NPCs. (D) NPCs were cultured under normal medium and 5 ng/ml TNFα conditions for 24 h, and the protein expression of exosomes was measured by immunoblot. TNFα increased the production of exosomes in NPCs. (E) The uptake of NPC exosome in CEPC. Compared with co-culture for 6 h, a large number of NPC exosomes were taken up in CEPCs after co-culture for 24 h. All results are representative of at least three independent experiments and each value is the mean ± s.d. of three determinations. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001.