Mesenchymal Stem Cell Sheet Promotes Functional Recovery and Palliates Neuropathic Pain in a Subacute Spinal Cord Injury Model

Figure 8

Neuronal differentiation of transplanted cells. (a) GFP (green) and NeuN (red) immunofluorescent staining was performed to confirm the engraftment of transplanted cells inside the spinal cord 5 mm rostral to, or 5 mm caudal to, the epicenter. ((a, 1, 4) caudal and rostral side of the sheet group, respectively; (a, 2, 5) caudal and rostral side of the intramedullary (direct) injection group, respectively; and (a, 3, 6) caudal and rostral side of the control group, respectively). Scale bar represents 50 μm. No differences are observed in the number of GFP-positive cells transplanted by cell sheet or direct injection on the caudal side (b) and rostral side (c). Differentiation of transplanted cells was evaluated with a different transplantation method. The ratio of neuronal differentiation is mostly similar between the cell sheet group and direct injection groups ((d) caudal side, (e) rostral side).

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