In a Rat Model of Acute Liver Failure, Icaritin Improved the Therapeutic Effect of Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Activation of the Hepatocyte Growth Factor/c-Met Pathway

Figure 4

The antiapoptotic effect of the HGF/c-Met signing pathway in MSCs. (a) The expression of c-Met in genetically modified MSCs was examined to verify successful transfection. Left: c-Met gene relative expression by qRT-PCR. ^∗P < 0.05 vs. MSCs; right: c-Met expression assessed by western blot. (b) The percentage of apoptotic cells by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining and flow cytometric analysis. (c) Western blot analysis of cleaved caspase 3, Bax, and Bcl-2 expression after serum-free culture for 72 h. (d) mRNA expression levels of caspase-3, Bcl-2, and Bax in MSCs after serum-free culture for 72 h by qRT-PCR. ^∗P < 0.05 vs. MSCs. Each experiment was replicated 3 times.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)