Hijacking the Cellular Mail: Exosome Mediated Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Figure 4

Histology of scaffold explant sections from in vivo implantation: (a1, a2, and a3) Representative H&E stained images of sections from control, regular exosome treated, and osteogenic exosome treated scaffolds containing HMSCs, respectively. Arrows point to blood vessels. Note the increase in the presence of blood vessels in the images from exosome treated scaffolds. (b1, b2, and b3) Representative alizarin red stained images of sections from control, regular exosome treated, and osteogenic exosome treated scaffolds containing HMSCs, respectively. Note the robust increase in calcium presence in exosome treated sample sections. (c1, c2, and c3) Representative von Kossa stained images of sections from control, regular exosome treated, and osteogenic exosome treated scaffolds containing HMSCs, respectively. Note the increase in presence of calcium phosphate in the exosome treated sections. Also, note the increase in vascularization and calcium phosphate presence in sections from osteogenic exosome treated samples compared to regular exosome treated samples. (d) is a graphical representation of histological data from triplicate experiments showing mean percentage area stained with von Kossa (blue bars) and alizarin red (red bars) stains. Error bars represent SD. represents statistical significance with respect to control (). represents statistical significance between exosome and osteogenic exosome treated groups ().