Fig. 1

Cells isolated from cardiac explants in culture. a Morphology of primary cells migrated from cardiac explants. Phase contrast images of cells cultivated in an endothelial growth medium (left panel) and cells derived in a smooth muscle growth medium (right panel). Scale bar 100 μm. b CD31-positive endothelial (left panel) and αSMA-positive smooth muscle (right panel) cells were detected by immunofluorescent staining of primary cardiac explant cultures growing in endothelial or smooth muscle medium, respectively. Scale bar 100 μm. c Flow cytometric analysis of surface markers. Comparison of cells cultivated in endothelial growth medium before and after MACS separation (left panel). Comparison of cells cultivated in smooth muscle cell growth medium at the second and fifth passages (right panel)