Heme Oxygenase-1-Modified Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells Combined with Normothermic Machine Perfusion Repairs Bile Duct Injury in a Rat Model of DCD Liver Transplantation via Activation of Peribiliary Glands through the Wnt Pathway

Figure 5

Increased stemness and activation of the Wnt signal pathway in PBGs. (a) Pluripotent cell marker- (Nanog- and SOX9-) positive cells in PBGs were marked by immunohistochemistry (arrow). Nanog- and SOX9-positive cells in the sham group were and , respectively, slightly increased in the NMP group (, vs. the sham group, , vs. the sham group) and significantly increased in the BP group (, vs. the NMP group and , vs. the NMP group, respectively) and the HBP group (, vs. the BP group and , vs. the BP group). Relative levels of Nanog, SOX9, and CFTR in each group were detected by western blotting (b) and PCR (c) (). (d) Western blotting analysis of Wnt3, total β-cat, and active-β-cat showed no statistical differences between the NMP group and the sham group, while expression of Wnt3, total β-cat, and active-β-cat increased in the BP and HBP groups (). (e) Relative levels of Wnt3 and Ctnnb1 (total β-cat) levels were detected using PCR (). , , and . PBG: peribiliary gland; NMP: normothermic machine perfusion; HBP: HO-1/BMMSCs plus NMP; BP: BMMSCs plus NMP; SOX9: SRY-box transcription factor 9; CFTR: cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator; β-cat: β-catenin.

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