Figure 6
Smooth-muscle actin expression in ES-NS. α- SMA immunoreactivity (red) in ES-NS cultured in the presence (A) or absence (B) of LM-MP. A small percentage of α-SMA positive cells were generated from LM-MP treated ES-NS as compared to the control group where they were rare. Nuclei are counterstained with DAPI (blue). Calibration bar = 25 μm. (C) RT-PCR analysis confirmed the increase of α-SMA transcript in LM-MP treated ES-NS as compared to control (n = 6, ** P < 0.01). This result was corroborated by Western Blot analysis shown in panel D (40 μg of total protein extract per lane. Loading control GAPDH, Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase), indicating increased expression of α-SMA in the LM-MP co-culture group as compared to control where the expression of α-SMA was negligible.