Journal: Scientific Reports
Article Title: Isolation and characterization of human cKIT positive amniotic fluid stem cells obtained from pregnancies with spina bifida
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-03518-2
Figure Lengend Snippet: Differentiation potential of SBA-derived cKIT + AFSCs into chondrogenic lineage in vitro in a 2D system. ( a – f ) Alcian Blue staining of SBA-derived cKIT + , cKIT − , and unsorted amniotic fluid cells cultured in ( a , c , e ) expansion medium as well as ( b , d , f ) 4 weeks after induction with chondrogenic differentiation medium. After chondrogenic differentiation cKIT + cells displayed blue-stained deposits of GAGs. By contrast, Alcian Blue stain was less intense in cKIT − and unsorted amniocytes. ( g , h ) ASCs and ( i , j ) human chondrocytes were used as a positive control. ( k – t ) Safranin O staining of SBA-derived cKIT + , cKIT − , and unsorted amniotic fluid cells cultured in ( k , m , o ) expansion medium as well as ( l , n , p ) 4 weeks after induction with chondrogenic differentiation medium. Safranin O staining was less pronounced in cKIT − and unsorted amniocytes as compared to the cKIT + AFSCs following the chondrogenic induction. ( q , r ) ASCs and ( s , t ) human chondrocytes were used as a positive control. Insets represent macroscopic pictures of cells on culture plastic stained with Alcian Blue/Safranin O. Scale bars: 500 μm. ( u – v ) Quantification of (u) Alcian Blue and (v) Safranin O positively stained area in donor matched cKIT + AFSCs, cKIT − amniocytes, unsorted amniocytes before and following chondrogenic induction. ASCs and chondrocytes were used as a control. Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) ( n = 2). Two-way Anova with Šídák’s multiple comparisons test was used to calculate significance. Stars indicate statistical significance, * p ≤ 0.05, ** p ≤ 0.01, *** p ≤ 0.001, **** p ≤ 0.0001, ns p > 0.05.
Article Snippet: Human articular chondrocytes were purchased from Promocell (Heidelberg, Germany).
Techniques: Derivative Assay, In Vitro, Staining, Cell Culture, Positive Control, Control, Standard Deviation