Fig. 3.

Systemic-intraosseous transplantation of human DEC (1 × 10⁶ and 5 × 10⁶) improves muscle pathology via reduced number of Centrally Nucleated Fibers (CNF) at 180 days after administration to mdx/scid mice. Representative images of Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained transverse sections of diaphragm (A) and gastrocnemius muscle (C) confirmed reduced number of centrally nucleated fibers (CNF) in DEC-injected groups compared to vehicle controls. Magnification 20x, scale bar 50 μm, n = 3/group, 12 ROI/organ/mouse. Significant dose-dependent reduction of CNF in diaphragm (B) and gastrocnemius muscle (D) in both DEC-injected, but not vehicle-injected mice. Number of CNF was normalized to the total number of fibers. CNF were marked with black arrows. Data presented as mean ± SEM. One-way ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey’s test. *** p < 0.001, **** p < 0.0001