NS prevents apoptotic cell death of implanted cells.

Abstract

<p>(A) BMNCs (green) were derived from EGFP-transgenic mice. Tissue sections from hind limb ischemic mice (C57BL/6NCrSlc) 10 days after transplantation were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Apoptotic nuclei were stained with tetramethylrhodamine (TMR) (red) by the TUNEL method. Arrowheads indicate cells double-positive for GFP and TUNEL. Scale bars, 100 µm. The upper panels of each group show low magnification (Low) and the lower panels show high magnification (High). (B) The percentage of TUNEL-positive cells out of GFP-positive ones was assessed in 4 low-power fields in each mouse (n = 3 in each group). Data are shown as means (SD). *<i>P</i><0.05 for the NS+BMNCs group compared to the BMNCs group. Abbreviations: NS, nano-scaffolds; BMNCs, bone marrow mononuclear cells; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; TUNEL, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labelling.</p