Fig. 7
Assessment of apoptosis after PRP treatment in I/R-injured skin flaps. A–H The cellular apoptosis in skin flaps in different treatment groups was evaluated by TUNEL assay. The apoptotic cells were stained with green fluorescence. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue). Scar bar = 20 μm. I The percentage of TUNEL-positive cells in all treatment groups was calculated. J The activity of caspase-3 in all treatment groups was measured by a colorimetric assay kit. Error bars represent the means ± SD (n = 4). Student’s t-test for comparison between two groups, and one-way ANOVA followed by the Tukey–Kramer post hoc test for comparison among multiple groups were used. *p < 0.05 vs. the corresponding PBS control, &p < 0.05 vs. the value in pre-PRP group after I/R insult, #p < 0.05 vs. the value in mid-PRP group after I/R insult. In each bargraph, the white bars from left to right represented treatment with PBS without I/R insult, before I/R insult, before reperfusion, or after reperfusion, respectively; the slash bar represented treatment with PRP without I/R insult; the black bar represented treatment with PRP before I/R insult; the dark grey bar represented treatment with PRP before reperfusion; the light grey bar represented treatment with PRP after reperfusion