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. 2022 Jan 7;12:797747. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.797747

FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 6

Secreted proteins of the dermal sheath mediate paracrine effects on fibroblasts and keratinocytes and contribute to a juvenile skin phenotype. Expression of INHBA (I), MDK (M) and RBP4 (R) among the fibroblast populations (A) in dot plot and (B) in Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection plots. Box plots of (C) proliferation of old keratinocytes and (D) procollagen type I c-peptide synthesis of old fibroblasts after treatment with secreted proteins MDK, Activin A and RBP4 for 72 h, n = 5, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 (RM one-way ANOVA with Dunnett multiple testing correction). (E) Epidermal thickness of 3D skin equivalents stained with Diff-Quick (microscopy images) and (F) procollagen synthesis. Comparison of young (y) vs. old (o) and old vs. old Activin A treated (100 ng/ml for 6 weeks, old A/oA) (box plots), n = 3, 5 slices were used for each n to determine epidermal thickness, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001 (two-tailed un/paired t-test).