Mesenchymal stem cells therapy ameliorates esophageal dysmotility in gastroesophageal reflux disease by modulating smooth muscle contractility, alleviating senescence by targeting the DNMT3a-HIF1α axis

Figure 3 Mesenchymal stem cells modulate smooth muscle contraction-related proteins in gastroesophageal reflux disease rat esophagus. This figure details how mesenchymal stem cells affect smooth muscle contraction-related proteins in gastroesophageal reflux disease rat esophagus. A: Immunohistochemical staining and western blot images for alpha-smooth muscle actin; B: Immunohistochemical staining and representative western blot images for myosin light chain kinase, phosphorylated-myosin light chain kinase, myosin phosphatase target subunit 1, and phosphorylated-myosin phosphatase target subunit 1. Error bars represent SEM. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001 for gastroesophageal reflux disease group vs normal group; ^dP < 0.05, ^eP < 0.01, ^fP < 0.001 for mesenchymal stem cell group vs gastroesophageal reflux disease group. NS: Not significant; Nor: Normal; GERD: Gastroesophageal reflux disease; MSC: Mesenchymal stem cell; α-SMA: Alpha-smooth muscle actin; MYLK: Myosin light chain kinase; p-MYLK: Phosphorylated-myosin light chain kinase; MYPT1: Myosin phosphatase target subunit 1; p-MYPT1: Phosphorylated-myosin phosphatase target subunit 1.