Journal: Nature Communications
Article Title: Tuft cells shape airway remodeling by eliciting OXGR1- and SOX9-dependent stem cell programs
doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-70763-y
Figure Lengend Snippet: a Representative images of DCLK1 and BCAM staining in tracheal sections from the indicated Sox9-tdT reporter strains at day 14. Sox9-tdT + BCAM + cells (white arrow). Scale bars: 50 µm. b Quantification of Sox9-tdT + BCAM + cells in the SAE from the indicated strains at day 14. Group sizes: n = 5, 6, 12, 5 mice, from left to right. Two-tailed unpaired Mann-Whitney U test. c , d Combined in situ hybridization (ISH) for Oxgr1, Krt5 and Krt8 , and immunofluorescence for SOX9 and α-SMA in tracheal sections from WT mice with or without ALT treatment ( Krt5 for BCs, Krt8 for differentiated cells, SOX9 for SMG progenitor cells, and α-SMA for SMG myoepithelial cells). Oxgr1 + SOX9 + cells (green arrows). Scale bars: 20 μm. SMG Submucosal gland. ( e ) Quantification of Oxgr1 + cells in the specified EpC subsets. Group sizes: n = 7, 16, 8, 13, 6, 10, 7, 8 mice, from left to right. Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple-comparisons test with Holm–Bonferroni correction. f Quantification of Oxgr1 + cells among the Krt5 + or Krt8 + cells. Group sizes: n = 12, 11, 12, 7 mice, from left to right. Two-tailed unpaired Mann-Whitney U test. g Experimental schema. h , i Representative images ( h ) and quantification ( i ) of BCAM and SOX9 staining in tracheal sections from the indicated strains at day 14. Scale bars: 20 μm. Group sizes: n = 5, 8, 7, 5 mice, from left to right. Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple-comparisons test with Holm–Bonferroni correction. The dashed line marks the border between SAE and SM. Box plots ( b , e , f , i ) show median (center line), 25th–75th percentiles (box), and min–max values (whiskers). Each data point represents the average of 3–4 images from one mouse. See “Methods”. Panel g was created in BioRender. Lee, M. ( https://BioRender.com/dg3i7rm ). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Article Snippet: Female (12 weeks- to 14 weeks) and male (10 weeks- to 12 weeks) mice of the following genotypes and strains were used: C57BL/6 (Charles River Laboratories, CRL# 027), Oxgr1 -/- (KOMP, stock number 048933-UCD), Pou2f3 -/- (The Jackson Laboratory, stock number 037040), Cysltr1 -/- (kindly provided by Dr. Lora Bankova, BWH, Boston), Cysltr2 -/- (kindly provided by Dr. Joshua Boyce, BWH, Boston), Krt5 CreERT2 (The Jackson Laboratory, stock number 029155), Pou2f3 CreERT2 (The Jackson Laboratory, stock number 037511), Sox9 CreERT2 (The Jackson Laboratory, stock number 035092), Sox9 fl/fl (The Jackson Laboratory, stock number 013106), Oxgr1 fl/fl (Barrett Lab), Ltc4s fl/fl (kindly provided by Dr. Lora Bankova, BWH, Boston), and Ai9 (RCL-tdT) (The Jackson Laboratory, stock number 007909).
Techniques: Staining, Two Tailed Test, MANN-WHITNEY, In Situ Hybridization, Immunofluorescence