Cilostazol Improves Proangiogenesis Functions in Human Early Endothelial Progenitor Cells through the Stromal Cell-Derived Factor System and Hybrid Therapy Provides a Synergistic Effect In Vivo

Figure 5

Murine Matrigel angiogenesis model. (a) Representative photos of Matrigel plaques. All Matrigel plaques with active treatment components inside have higher hemoglobin content as compared to plaques containing only the vehicle control (a, b). Matrigel plaques with cilostazol-pretreated EPCs inside contain more hemoglobin than those with EPCs alone (a, b). The highest hemoglobin content is seen in Matrigel plaques with cilostazol and EPCs (a, b). (c) Histological examination of neovascularization in Matrigel plaques by hematoxylin and eosin staining. All Matrigel plaques with active treatment components inside have larger areas of neovascularization than plaques containing only the vehicle control (c, d). Matrigel plaques with cilostazol-pretreated EPCs inside have significantly higher number of vascular areas than those with EPCs alone (c, d). (e) Immunofluorescence staining of implanted EPCs. A higher number of DiI-acLDL-prelabeled cells (red) counterstained with DAPI (blue) are found in Matrigel plaques containing cilostazol-pretreated EPCs and combination of cilostazol and EPCs (e, f). , , and , significantly different compared with vehicle-treated mice. and , significantly different between active treatment groups. EPCs, endothelial progenitor cells; Hb, hemoglobin; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; DiI-acLDL, DiI-acetylated low density lipoprotein; LM, lumen.

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