Fig. 6

SP boosts cardiogenic potential of RA c-Kit⁺ CPCs. (A) c-Kit⁺ CPC proliferation in the presence or absence of SP (1 and 10 nM) was measured using the EZ-Cytox cell viability assay kit. ***P < 0.001, versus control using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s post hoc tests. (B) Phase contrast images of transwell migration assay. Scale bars, 20 μm. Graph indicating the rate of cell migration. *** P < 0.001, versus control using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s post hoc tests. (C) Images of morphology of cardiosphere from purified c-Kit⁺ CPCs with or without SP. Graphs showing the number of cardiospheres for the control, 1 nM, and 10 nM of SP. *P < 0.05, versus control using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s post hoc tests. (D) Confocal images of α-actinin-labeled cardiomyocytes (red). Scale bars 20 μm and 10 μm. Graphs representing the total number of α-actinin-labeled cardiomyocytes in control vs SP (10 nM)-treated c-Kit⁺ CPCs at 4 weeks. **P < 0.01 versus control using Student’s t-test. (E) Western blot analysis showing the activation of Akt and total Akt in SP (10 nM)-treated c-Kit⁺ CPCs at the indicated time points