Fig. 5

Limb salvage in hind limb ischemia requires a combination of CD141⁺ VPCs and BM-MSCs. A To compare the efficacy of dual stem cell therapy with singular cell type therapy, CD141⁺VPCs, BM-MSCs and their combination were administered in a CLI model. B Changes in the limb over a 4-week period. Dotted circle: CLI-induced site. C Ischemic necrosis grade over the 4-week period; 2-Way ANOVA test with Tukey multiple comparisons. D Distribution of grades for ischemic necrosis across all groups at 4 weeks post-surgery. E Images of laser Doppler measurements over 4 weeks was acquired and F blood flow was relatively quantified; 2-Way ANOVA test with Tukey multiple comparisons G, H Immunofluorescence images for human CD31 G and human a-SMA expression H at 4 weeks I, J Qualification of human CD31 (I) and human a-SMA (J); Kruskal–Wallis test with Tukey multiple comparisons. N = 8/group. Scale bar = 100 μm. p values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. ***p < 0.001 dual cells vs. saline; ++p < 0.01, +++p < 0.001, dual cells vs. CD141⁺VPC; #p < 0.05, ##p < 0.01, ###p < 0.001 dual cells vs. BM-MSCs; $p < 0.05, $$p < 0.01, $$$p < 0.001 saline vs. CD141 + VPCs; &&p < 0.01, CD141 + VPCs vs. BM-MSCs