Wnt signaling pathway inhibitor promotes mesenchymal stem cells differentiation into cardiac progenitor cells in vitro and improves cardiomyopathy in vivo

Figure 9 Immunohistochemistry of heart tissue section. A: Immunohistochemical images of heart sections showing the transplanted untreated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and fourteen days inhibitor Wnt production-4 (IWP-4) treated MSCs labeled with red fluorescent DiI dye. Cardiac specific proteins α-actinin, cTnI, and GATA-4 were immunostained for the expression of cardiac proteins. Alexa fluor 488 secondary antibody was used for detection; B: Quantification of the fluorescence intensities of the DiI labeled cells presented in bar graphs. As compared to normal MSCs, fluorescence intensity was significantly increased in case of alpha actinin, GATA-4, and cTnI in the fourteen days IWP-4 treated MSCs group in the infarcted myocardium. For statistical analysis, One-way ANOVA was used followed by the Bonferroni post-hoc test. Data are presented as mean ± SEM with significance level P < 0.05 where (^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001). IWP-4: Inhibitor Wnt production-4; MSC: Mesenchymal stem cell; MI: Myocardial infarction.