Fig. 7

Transplantation of IL13-producing MSCs increases the number of recruited neuroprotective microglia and macrophages at day 14 after ischemic stroke. a Representative fluorescent microscopic images of ischemic cortical region show the expression of Arg-1 on CX₃CR1^eGFP/+ and CCR2^RFP/+ cells in all three experimental groups at day 14 after stroke. Illustrative 20× close-up magnification display the changes in Arg-1 expression by microglia and macrophages. Immunofluorescence colors: blue, TOPRO; green, microglia; red, macrophages; white, Arg-1. b Detailed phenotypic quantitative analysis of CX₃CR1^eGFP/+ and CCR2^RFP/+ cells expressing Arg-1 showed a significant increase in the number of GFP⁺RFP⁻Arg-1⁺ and GFP⁻RFP⁺Arg-1⁺ cells in IL13-MSC-treated group, in comparison to both control groups. c The corresponding exploded pie charts show the distribution of Arg-1 expression by GFP⁺ and RFP⁺ cells in all three experimental groups. In the pie chart, GFP⁺ microglia and RFP⁺ macrophages are encircled in green and red, respectively. In the IL13-MSC group, the Arg-1⁺ fraction of macrophages is significantly higher than that of microglia. n = 5–6 mice in each group. Data represent Mean ± SD. The data were compared between the three experimental groups using a parametric one-way ANOVA test with Bonferroni’s post hoc test