Hepatocyte Growth Factor Effects on Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Human Arteries: A Novel Strategy to Accelerate Vascular Ulcer Wound Healing

Figure 5

Angiogenic effect of HGF/SF on hVW-MSCs. (a) Representative in vitro tube-like formation images of HGF/SF (10 ng/mL for 7 days) and VEGF (50 ng/mL for 7 days) preconditioned hWV-MSCs as well as uninduced hWV-MSCs and HUVEC in Matrigel assay for 2, 6, and 24 hrs from seeding. Scale bars = 100 μm. (b) The quantitative analysis of the capillary-like structures revealed a higher number of hVW-MSCs exposed to HGF/SF than VEGF-treated cells. value < 0.05; Student’s t-test. (c) Flow cytometry analysis of von Willebrand factor (vWF), KDR, and CD31 expression on untreated hVW-MSCs, HUVEC, and HGF/SF- and VEGF-treated cells. (d) The angiogenic lineage commitment was evaluated for each treatment attributing a score from 0 to 4 according to flow cytometry values.