10.1371/journal.pone.0032287.g004 Hans J. Rolf Hans J. Rolf Sabine Niebert Sabine Niebert Marcus Niebert Marcus Niebert Lena Gaus Lena Gaus Henning Schliephake Henning Schliephake K. Günter Wiese K. Günter Wiese Cytoskeletal elements of STRO-1<sup>+</sup> DaMSCs and long-distance cell-to-cell connections (TNTs). Public Library of Science 2012 elements damscs long-distance cell-to-cell connections 2012-02-16 00:45:55 Figure https://plos.figshare.com/articles/figure/_Cytoskeletal_elements_of_STRO_1_DaMSCs_and_long_distance_cell_to_cell_connections_TNTs_/352755 <p>(<b>a,b</b>) Different cell-to-cell connections between STRO-1<sup>+</sup> cells. Intercellular connections are able to bridge long distances even across neighbouring cells (Phalloidin/Tubulin staining, merged images). (<b>b</b>) Thick tubes (diameter >0.4 µm, example is marked by red arrow) contain F-actin and α-tubulin, whereas thin tubes (diameter <0.4 µm, example is marked by green arrow) contain only F-actin. (<b>c</b>) Negative control, staining without Tubulin antibody. (<b>d–f</b>) Scanning electron microscope pictures (SEM) of a mixed culture of antlerogenic cells. Cells form long connections across neighbouring cells (<b>d,e</b>) and very high magnification (<b>f</b>) proves that the surface of TNTs exhibit small appendages; long-distance connections are also possible between morphologically distinguishable cell types (<b>d</b>). (<b>h–m</b>) Multichannel pictures of Phalloidin (<b>h,k</b>) and Tubulin (<b>i,l</b>) stained DaMSCs demonstrate that their intercellular connections continuously consist of F-actin but only partially of microtubules. The visible spindle apparatus (<b>i</b>, detail enlargement) point to an initiating cell division and provides evidence that the used α-tubulin antibody is also efficient in DaMSCs. (<b>j,m</b>). Merged Images.</p>