FIG. 2.

Loud sound increases production of PDGF-BB in the stria vascularis, and migrated pericytes express higher PDGF-BB receptor (PDGFRβ). (A) The level of PDGF-BB mRNA is significantly increased after loud sound stimulation, measured by quantitative real-time pericyte [n_ctrl = 3, n_lss = 3, t (4) = 17.63, ****P_{(lss vs ctrl)} < 0.0001, Student’s t test]. (B, C) The level of PDGF-BB protein in the stria vascularis is also significantly elevated, measured by Western blot [n_ctrl = 3, n_lss = 3, t (4) = 8.616, ***P_{(lss vs ctrl)} = 0.001, Student’s t test]. (D) Increased production of PDGF-BB is also detected by ELISA [n_ctrl = 4, n_lss = 4, t (4) = 3.121, *P_{(lss vs ctrl)} = 0.02 < 0.05, Student’s t test]. (E, F) The representative confocal projection images show PDGFRβ expression in non-migrated pericytes and migrated pericytes. (E) shows a relatively dim PDGFRβ fluorescence signal is detected in non-migrated pericytes (white arrows). (F) shows an increased fluorescence signal for PDGFRβ detected in the migrated-pericytes, particularly in the processes of migrated-pericytes (white arrows). (G), a bar graph, shows significantly higher fluorescence intensity for PDGFRβ in the migrated pericytes than non-migrated pericytes [n_{non-migrated pc} = 20, n_{migrated pc} = 20, t (38) = 5.313, ****P_{(non-migrated PC vs migrated PC)} < 0.0001, Student’s t test] (PC: pericyte)