Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 17 pp 21364—21384

Figure 2. DFO impairs EPC angiogenic activity. (A) Early EPCs isolated from rat peripheral blood samples were treated with DFO (DFO, 3 μM) for four days, and then were subjected to migration assays. ** P < 0.01 compared with the untreated group. (B) Migration activity was reduced in old EPCs and further attenuated by DFO treatment. Human EPCs of the same clone with 10 additional passages were defined as old EPCs, as previously described [15]. Cells were treated with or without DFO (3 μM) for four days, and then were subjected to migration assays. ** P < 0.01 compared with the untreated group. (C) Late EPCs (1 × 10⁴) were incubated with the indicated concentration of DFO for four days, and were harvested for tube formation assays by being seeded in matrix gel overnight. (D) Quantification of the tube length and junction number. The experiment was repeated with five different clones of EPCs with similar results. * P < 0.05, ** P < 0.01 compared with the untreated group (0 μM). (E) EPCs were treated with the indicated concentration of DFO for four days, and then were subjected to a BrdU incorporation assay. ** P < 0.01 compared with the untreated group (0 μM).