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. 2020 Nov 25;11:5982. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19657-1

Fig. 4. Adenovirus-mediated expression of Wisp1 enhances endogenous beta cell proliferation in adult mice.

Fig. 4

Adenoviruses encoding human WISP1 (Ad-WISP1) or beta-galactosidase (Ad-betaGal) were injected via the tail vein into 12wo C57BL6/J mice. a Quantification by qPCR of human WISP1 transcripts in the livers of mice seven days and fourteen days (n = 4) post-injection. Levels are expressed relative to values in mice injected with Ad-betaGal, given the value of 1. b Quantification by qPCR of mouse Wisp1 mRNA (n = 5 for Ad-betaGal, red; n = 7 for Ad-WISP1, purple) and human WISP1 transcripts (n = 5 for Ad-betaGal, red; n = 4 for Ad-WISP1, purple) in the livers of mice fourteen days post-injection. Expression levels are expressed relative to Tbp. c Serum human WISP1 levels were measured by ELISA at days 7 and 14 post-injection of Ad-betaGal (n = 7) or Ad-WISP1 (n = 8 at day 7; n = 4 at day 14, purple). Human WISP1 was not detectable (ND) in serum from mice injected with Ad-betaGal. d, e Beta cell proliferation following injection of Ad-WISP1 and Ad-betaGal. d Representative images of in toto immunofluorescence staining against ki67 (green) and insulin (purple) in islets isolated at day 7 after injection of the indicated adenoviruses. Nuclei are labeled with Hoechst (blue). e Percentage of beta cells (insulin+) that are ki67+ at day 7 after injection of Ad-betaGal (n = 4, red) or Ad-WISP1 (n = 7, purple). f Beta cell mass at day 14 following injection of Ad-betaGal (n = 5, red) or Ad-WISP1 (n = 7, purple). All data shown represent mean ± SEM for the indicated n. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 using two-tailed Student’s t test (b, e, f) or two-way ANOVA (a, c). Scale bars are 25 μm.