Fig 2: Western blot analysis of neural marker expression in different samples of adipose-derived stem cells cultures. A: Immunoblot analysis of whole-cell lysates at day 1, 4 and 8 of culture for NSE, PGP9.5, nestin, GFAP and GAPDH as internal control; B-E: ASCs: Control adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) cultured in basal Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM); sfASCs: ASCs cultured in serum-free DMEM; F12/ASCs: ASCs cultured in serum-free DMEM/F12; CM/ASCs: ASCs cultured in serum-free DMEM/F12 conditioned from ARPE-19. Quantitative data are illustrated in histograms. Values are expressed as mean ± SD obtained from three independent experiments. aP < 0.05 vs ASCs of corresponding time point; Two-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. NSE: Neuron specific enolase; PGP9.5: Protein gene product 9.5; GFAP: Glial fibrillary acidic protein; GAPDH: Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; sfASCs: Serum-free adipose-derived stem cells; CM: Conditioned medium.

Fig 3: Glial fibrillary acid protein immunoreactivity in different samples of adipose-derived stem cells cultures. Glial fibrillary acid protein (red fluorescence) detected after 1 d and 8 d of culture of human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). ASCs: Control ASCs cultured in basal Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM); sfASCs: ASCs cultured in serum-free DMEM; F12/ASCs: ASCs cultured in serum-free DMEM/F12; CM/ASCs: ASCs cultured in serum-free DMEM/F12 conditioned from ARPE-19. Blue fluorescence indicates DAPI staining of cell nuclei. Scale bar: 50 µm. sfASCs: Serum-free adipose-derived stem cells; CM: Conditioned medium; GFAP: Glial fibrillary acid protein.