Pericyte-like differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells: An in vitro study

Figure 7 mRNA levels of junction proteins in human retinal endothelial cells after 4 days of co-culture with human retinal pericyte cells or different groups of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. A: Histogram bars represent mRNA fold changes for vascular endothelial-Cadherin; B: Zonula occludens-1; and C: Occludin. Results are referred to the control levels of human retinal endothelial cells and normalized to the RNA expression of the housekeeping reference ribosomal gene 18S. All data represent mean ± SEM obtained from at least three independent experiments. Comparison between groups was evaluated by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s test. ^aIndicates significant difference (P < 0.05) vs human retinal endothelial cells; ^bIndicates significant difference (P < 0.05) vs human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells pre-stimulated with transforming growth factor; ^cIndicates significant difference (P < 0.05) vs human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells pre-cultured in pericyte medium lacking pericyte growth supplement.