Fig. 1.

Adult taste buds are mildly but significantly affected by 1 week of HhAntag treatment. (A,B) Although the morphology of typical FF (A) and atypical FF (B) papillae differ, both house K8⁺ taste buds (red). Images are confocal compressed z-stacks. Nuclei are counterstained with Draq5 (blue); dashed lines delimit the basement membrane; solid lines delimit the epithelial surface; mc, mesenchymal core. Scale bars: 10 μm.  (C) After 3 days of HhAntag treatment, typical FF and atypical FF taste bud numbers do not differ from vehicle-treated controls. (D) The number of K8⁺ pixels, i.e. taste bud size, is comparable between vehicle and HhAntag-treated mice at 3 days. (E) After 7 days, HhAntag-treated mice tend to have fewer typical FF taste buds, whereas atypical FF taste buds are significantly increased. (F) At 7 days, taste bud size does not differ between HhAntag-treated and control mice. N=3 mice for 3 days; N=3-4 mice for 7 days; n=30 taste buds for vehicle or 30-40 for HhAntag (ten taste buds randomly selected per mouse). Data are represented as mean±s.d.; **P<0.01 (Student's t-test).