Figure 1

After endothelial growth medium treatment and laminar shear stress stimulation, the EPCs differentiated from human ASCs were aligned in parallel to the direction of fluid flow and showed an increase in the endothelial markers Flk-1 and vWF (n = 15).
(a) Endothelial functions exhibited increased tube-like structures on Matrigel (n = 10) and uptake of DiI-labeled acLDL (n = 10). (b) Neural differentiation was induced by forming free-floating spheres on the chitosan-coated surface. Spheres expressed the specific differentiation markers nestin and GFAP for neural lineages (n = 13). (c) Immunofluorescent staining showed an increase in nestin, NF-H and GFAP in the spheres (n = 10). (d) Scale bar in phase image: 200 μm. Scale bar in fluorescent image: 50 μm. Data are represented as mean ± SD. *p < 0.05 compared to undifferentiated ASCs.