MiR-21-5p-enriched exosomes from hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes exhibit superior cardiac repair efficacy compared to hiPSC-derived exosomes in a murine MI model

Figure 6 Administration of human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes exosomes to infarcted rat hearts enhances the expression of cardiac troponin T, cluster of differentiation 31, and C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4. A: Post-myocardial infarction (MI) border zone sections were subjected to immunohistochemistry for cardiac troponin T (cTNT) expression. The black arrow indicates the cTNT-positive expression region; B: Average optical density value was used to represent the level of cTNT expression; C: Four weeks after MI, BZ sections were immunohistochemically stained for cluster of differentiation 31 (CD31). The black arrow indicates the CD31-positive expression region; D: Number of CD31-positive blood vessels serve as an indicator of angiogenesis at the myocardial infarction edge; E: BZ sections obtained 4 weeks after MI were immunohistochemically analyzed for C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) expression. The black arrow indicated the CXCR4-positive expression region; F: Ratio of CXCR4-positive cells to total cells reflects the level of CXCR4 expression. Data are shown as the mean ± SD from n = 4 biologically independent samples across different groups. ^aP < 0.05. hiPSC-CM-exos: Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte-derived exosomes; iPSCs: Induced pluripotent stem cells; iPSC-CMs: Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes; iPSC-exos: Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived exosomes; PBS: Phosphate-buffered saline.