Journal: Neural Regeneration Research
Article Title: Small extracellular vesicles derived from hair follicle neural crest stem cells enhance perineurial cell proliferation and migration via the TGF-β/SMAD/HAS2 pathway
doi: 10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-25-00127
Figure Lengend Snippet: miR-21-5p in hfNCSC-sEVs augments cell proliferation and migration by enhancing HAS2 expression in PCs. (A, B) Western blot (A) and statistical analyses (B) revealed the relative protein expression levels of HAS2, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and vimentin in PCs across the –/–, –/si- Has2 , hfNCSC-sEVs/–, and hfNCSC-sEVs/si- Has2 groups on day 5 of in vitro culture (normalized to β-actin, n = 3 per group). (C, D) The wound healing assay (C) and statistical analysis (D) demonstrated the migration rates of PCs in the aforementioned groups ( n = 3 per group). (E) The Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to assess cell viability in PCs across the same groups on day 5 of in vitro culture ( n = 5 per group). (F, G) Western blot (F) and statistical analyses (G) indicated the relative protein expression levels of HAS2, PCNA, and vimentin in PCs treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), hfNCSC-sEVs, or hfNCSC-sEVs + miR-21-5p inhibitor on day 5 of in vitro culture (normalized to β-actin, n = 3 per group). (H–J) Immunofluorescence staining visualized the expression of HAS2 (red) and 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EdU; green) in PCs (H), and statistical analysis revealed the integrated optical density (IOD) of zonula occludens 1 (ZO1; I) and the cell proliferation rates (J) in the PBS, hfNCSC-sEVs, and hfNCSC-sEVs + miR-21-5p inhibitor groups on day 5 of in vitro culture ( n = 3 per group). (K, L) Western blot (K) and statistical analyses (L) showed the relative protein expression levels of HAS2, PCNA, and vimentin in regenerated tissue from the PBS, hfNCSC-sEVs, and hfNCSC-sEVs + miR-21-5p inhibitor groups on day 5 post-operation (normalized to β-tubulin, n = 3 per group). Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM. ** P < 0.01, *** P < 0.001 (one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s multiple comparison test for B, D, E, G, I, J, and L). The data were from at least three separate and independent studies. CCK-8: Cell counting kit-8; EdU: 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine; HAS2: hyaluronan synthase 2; hfNCSCs: hair follicle neural crest stem cells; IOD: integrated optical density; PCNA: proliferating cell nuclear antigen; PCs: perineurial cells; sEVs: small extracellular vesicles; ZO1: zonula occludens 1.
Article Snippet: The following primary antibodies were used: rabbit monoclonal anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) antibody (1:2000, Cat# 60097-1-Ig, Proteintech, Wuhan, China), rabbit monoclonal anti-vimentin antibody (1:1000, Cat# 5741, Cell Signaling Technology, Danvers, MA, USA), rabbit polyclonal anti-claudin-1 antibody (1:1000, Cat# 13050-1-AP, Proteintech), rabbit polyclonal anti-zonula occludens 1 (ZO1) antibody (1:10 000, Cat# 21773-1-AP, Proteintech), rabbit polyclonal anti-mothers against decapentaplegic homolog (SMAD)7 antibody (1:500, Cat# WL02975, Wanleibio, Shenyang, China), rabbit polyclonal anti-SMAD2/3 antibody (1:1000, Cat# WL01520, Wanleibio), rabbit polyclonal anti-p-SMAD2/3 antibody (1:500, Cat# WL02305, Wanleibio), rabbit recombinant anti-hyaluronan synthase 2 (HAS2) antibody (1:500, Cat# DF13702, Affinity, Cincinnati, OH, USA), rabbit monoclonal anti-β-actin antibody (1:1000, Cat# 4970, Cell Signaling Technology), and mouse monoclonal anti-β-tubulin antibody (1:5000, Cat# M20005 , Abmart, Shanghai, China).
Techniques: Migration, Expressing, Western Blot, In Vitro, Wound Healing Assay, Cell Counting, Saline, Immunofluorescence, Staining, Comparison, CCK-8 Assay