Figure 2

Impaired Cav- 1/ VEGFR2 co- localization in SSc- MSCs. (A) Immunofluorescence staining of Cav-1 (green) and VEGFR2 (red) in MSCs from HC and SSc. In unstimulated HC-MSCs, Cav-1 (2) is aggregated in some areas of the cell surface while the VEGFR2 (1) is ubiquitously diffuse. After treatment with VEGF both VEGFR2 and Cav-1 (4-6) were co-localized. In the SSc-MSCs, we observed an impaired VEGFR2/Cav-1 co-localization (7-12), after VEGF treatment. Pictures are representative of all experiments. Original magnification 20X. (B) Cav-1 was immunoprecipitated (IP) and its association with VEGFR2 was assessed by western blot (WB). The immunoprecipitation assay showed a lack of that Cav-1/VEGFR2 co-localization in SSc-MSCs. Each experimental condition was performed in triplicate. Blot was representative of all the experiments. Co-immunoprecipitated protein bands were quantified by densitometry and the values were expressed as arbitrary unit of optical density (OD) (**P <0.001).