Fig. 6
Exosomes in vivo tracking and regulating vascular calcification in 5/6 NTP mouse model. A Representative in vivo fluorescent images of 5/6 NTP mice intravenously injected with PBS, DiR or Exos DiR (100 µg/mice, n = 5 per group) within 12 h. Ex vivo fluorescent imaging of different organs (B) and thoracic aortas (C) from mice treated with PBS, DiR or Exos DiR within 12 h. D Immunofluorescence analysis of exosome marker TSG101 (red fluorescence) and smooth muscle marker α-SMA (green fluorescence) in thoracic aorta sections from PBS or AFs-Exos treated mice. The arrows indicate TSG101-positive exosomes taken up by the arterial media. The scale bar represents 50 μm. E Schematic diagram of the establishment of 5/6 nephrectomy (NTP) mouse model and the intravenous injections of PBS, AFsNPi-Exos or AFsHPi-Exos (100 µg per mice) every other day for 4 weeks. F Alizarin Red S and Von Kossa staining of thoracic aorta sections from sham mice injected with PBS or 5/6 NTP mice (n = 5 per group) injected with PBS, AFsNPi-Exos or AFsHPi-Exos. The arrows indicate mineralized nodules. The scale bar represents 200 μm. ALP activity (G) and calcium content (H) of thoracic aortic tissues of mice. I Immunohistochemistry analysis of Runx2 and BMP2 expression in the thoracic aorta sections of mice (lower panel) and quantitation of positive staining area (upper panel) are shown. The arrows indicate the positive staining area. Scale bar 200 μm (Black) and 50 μm (Blue). Results are represented by mean ± SD with five replicates for each group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01