Fig. 5
Expression of stem cell-related and inflammatory markers during the time course of PAH development. a CXCR4 gene expression in the PAH-2w group was significantly higher than in the control, PAH-1w, PAH-3w, and PAH-5w groups. After 2 weeks of PAH development, CXCR4 expression started to decrease. b SDF-1 gene expression level in the PAH-1w group was significantly less than the control group. After 1 week of PAH development, SDF-1 expression started to increase, and was significantly higher in the PAH-3w group than in the control, PAH-1w, PAH-2w, and PAH-5w groups. After 3 weeks of PAH development, SDF-1 expression started to decrease. c and d c-Kit (c) and SCF (d) gene expressions exhibited the same tendency and had results similar to SDF-1. e The change in the gene expression level of inflammatory marker, TNFα, was similar to that of CXCR4. f and g The gene expressions of inflammatory markers MCP1 (f) and IL-6 (g) gradually increased over time. h Immunohistochemical staining of c-Kit was compared in this time course study. c-Kit+ cell number in the PAH-2w group was significantly greater than in the control and PAH-1w groups. c-Kit+ cell number in the PAH-3w group was also significantly greater than in the control, PAH-1w, and PAH-2w groups. After 3 weeks of PAH development, c-Kit expression started to decrease; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001. Treatment groups consisted of eight rats each in the control, PAH-1w, and PAH-2w groups, four rats in the PAH-3w group, and five rats in the PAH-5w group