Fig 2. Taste bud cell populations are decreased after Sox2 deletion in epithelial stem/progenitor cells.
A, C, E: Immunohistochemical detection of taste bud cell marker SOX2 (non-sensory taste bud cells, A), POU2F3 (sweet, umami, and bitter taste cells, C), and DDC (sour taste cells, E) in the CvP of Krt5CreERT2/+; Sox2flox/flox mice with and without tamoxifen injection (–Tam, control). Double fluorescent labeling of SOX2 (red) and KCNQ1 (green) was done to identify SOX2 immunoreactive signals inside taste buds. B, D, F: Quantitative analyses of SOX2+ (B), POU2F3+ (D), and DDC+ (F) cells in taste buds in the CvP. Immunoreactive signals were counted, and the ratios of signals after the induction of Sox2 deletion to those in control (–Tam) per trench were statistically analyzed using Welch’s ANOVA to evaluate significant change over time (n = 3 at each time point). The data are expressed as the mean ± s.e.m. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001. Scale bars, 50 μm.