Galectin-3 Knockdown Impairs Survival, Migration, and Immunomodulatory Actions of Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in a Mouse Model of Chagas Disease Cardiomyopathy

Figure 5

Effects of the transplantation of MSC lines in a mouse model of chronic T. cruzi infection. (a) Study design. (b) Cell migration and homing to spleens and hearts were evaluated by amplification of GFP mRNA by qRT-PCR. (c–f) Representative images of H&E stained heart sections of naïve mice (c), infected and administered with saline (d), MSC-WT (e), or MSC-Gal3KD (f). Quantification of mRNA expression levels of CD45 coding gene (PTPRC), evaluated qRT-PCR (g). RTqPCR analysis of gene expression in the heart tissue of the cytokines IL1-β (h), IL-6 (i), TNF-α (j), IFN-γ (k), and Th1-associated transcription factor T-bet (l). ; ; . MSC-WT = wild-type MSC; MSC-Ctrl = MSC transduced with a nontargeting shRNA vector; MSC-Gal3KD = Gal-3 knockdown MSC.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

(i)

(j)

(k)

(l)