Fig. 3

Influence of hUMSCs secreting TSG-6 on inflammatory cytokine expression in the cortex following TBI. TBI mice were intracerebroventricularly injected with 10 μL of PBS, 0.5 µg rmTSG-6 or 1 µg rmTSG-6, or 2.5 × 10⁵ hUMSCs, sh-TSG-6 hUMSCs, sh-NC hUMSCs, in 10 μL of PBS at 4 h after TBI surgery. a The protein levels of IL-1β, IL-18, and TNF-α in the cerebral cortex of mice was measured by an ELISA assay at 24 and 48 h post-TBI. Serum LDH (b) and Caspase-1 activity (c) in brain cortex was also detected 24 h and 48 h post-TBI. All data are represented as means ± SD (n = 6 mice/group) and compared by one-way ANOVA, followed by the Tukey’s post hoc test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, versus TBI group; ^#p < 0.05, sh-TSG-6 hUMSC group versus sh-NC hUMSC group