Enhancement of Mitochondrial Transfer by Antioxidants in Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Figure 4

MCA enhanced mitochondria transfer to the injured hMSCs. (a) The MitoTracker Red-labeled mitochondria from the MCA-treated hMSCs were longer than the non-MCA-treated hMSCs in the coculture, as well as the numbers of TNTs formed (see enlarged insets). The actin was stained with phalloidin (blue fluorescence) in both coculture. (b) The MitoTracker Red-labeled mitochondria that resided along the TNTs were also longer in coculture containing MCA-treated hMSCs (right panel and inset) as compared to the one with non MCA-treated hMSCs (left panel and inset). (c) Healthy hMSCs with or without MCA treatment were labeled with CFDA and MitoTracker Red before coculture. After 24 h coculture with H₂O₂-treated hMSCs, all cells were harvested and subjected to flow cytometric analysis. The CFDA-unlabeled cells were gated and the MitoTracker Red fluorescence was quantitated. The proportion of cells containing red fluorescence was 30.5% in coculture containing MCA-treated hMSCs as compared to the 16.3% in the control hMSCs coculture. .

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