Fig. 3

The complement alternative activation is critical for muscle regeneration. a At 0, 5, 15, and 30 days after injury, muscles from WT, C4−/− and Cfb−/− mice were immunostained with WGA (green). (Bars, 50 μm). b The mean myofiber CSA in injured muscles from WT, C4−/− and Cfb−/− mice at 0, 5, 15, and 30 days after injury were measured. (N = 4 in per time point). c The distribution of myofiber sizes of WT and Cfb−/− mice at 30 days after injury was analyzed, ~250 myofibers of each sample. d At day 5 after injury, the mRNA expression levels of Myod and Myog in WT and Cfb−/− muscle were assessed by real-time PCR (N = 4 in each group). e Immunofluorescence staining of C3b/iC3b(green) in WT and Cfb−/− muscle at day 1 after CTX-injured TA muscle, and the nuclei were counter stained with DAPI (blue). (Bars, 50 μm). Data are expressed as the mean ± s.e.m. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, unpaired t-test, two-tailed