Fig. 8: β-Catenin/Oct4 signaling promotes angiogenesis of engrafted PBMSCs in ischemic hearts. | Experimental & Molecular Medicine

Fig. 8: β-Catenin/Oct4 signaling promotes angiogenesis of engrafted PBMSCs in ischemic hearts.

From: β-Catenin promotes long-term survival and angiogenesis of peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells via the Oct4 signaling pathway

Fig. 8

a Myocardial vessels were detected by immunofluorescence staining with an anti-factor VIII antibody at 90 d after transplantation of PBMSCs alone or pretreatment with oeβ-catenin, oeβ-catenin plus shOct4, shβ-catenin, or shβ-catenin plus oeOct4. Scale bar = 100 μm. b Quantitative analyses of blood vessel intensity in the rats receiving cell therapy compared with that in the animals receiving PBS injection. c Statistical analysis of the mean percentage of CD31 and EGFP double-positive cells (CD31+EGFP+) relative to the whole EGFP+ population as assessed by FACS. d Immunofluorescence staining showing that the transplanted cells expressed factor VIII. The transplanted cells were prelabeled with EGFP (green); the nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue), and the cytoplasm of the blood endothelial cells was stained red with anti-factor VIII, scale bar = 20 μm. e Statistical analysis showing that engrafted EGFP-prelabeled cells expressing factor VIII were the most numerous among the PBMSCs pretreated with oeβ-catenin, followed by cells pretreated with shβ-catenin plus oeOct4, and β-catenin- or Oct4-silenced PBMSCs had the lowest levels (d, arrows). Protein concentrations of Ang1 and HGF (f), bFGF and VEGF (g) analyzed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the supernatant of infarcted hearts at 90 d after treatment of PBS injection, transplantation of PBMSCs alone, or pretreatment with oeβ-catenin, oeβ-catenin plus shOct4, shβ-catenin, or shβ-catenin plus oeOct4. The levels of these proangiogenic cytokines in the supernatant were significantly higher from the infarcted hearts receiving PBMSCs pretreated with oeβ-catenin or shβ-catenin plus oeOct4 than those receiving PBMSCs alone or PBMSCs pretreated with β-catenin- or Oct4-silenced cells. The changes in Ang1 and HGF (h) and bFGF and VEGF (i) were also detected by ELISAs in the plasma of these rats. Representative images of Ang1 (j) and VEGF (k) immunofluorescence staining; scale bar = 20 μm. The numbers of engrafted EGFP-prelabeled cells expressing Ang1 or VEGF were higher among the cells overexpressing β-catenin or Oct4 than in the β-catenin- or Oct4-silenced cells (white arrowheads). All graphs show the means ± SEMs. P < 0.05: *vs. PBS injection, #vs. PBMSC therapy alone, Δvs. transplantation of oeβ-catenin-treated MSCs, †vs. transplantation of PBMSCs transfected with oeβ-catenin plus shOct4 or shβ-catenin alone (n = 5 per group).

Back to article page