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. 2022 Jan 6;17(2):369–383. doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.12.002

Figure 6.

Figure 6

Rnf43/Znrf3 dKO promotes maintenance of taste bud after glossopharyngeal nerve transection (GLx)

(A) Schematic illustration of the experimental design. Bilateral GLx was performed at day 0 (D0), followed by tamoxifen induction of conditional deletion of Rnf43/Znrf3 at day 7. Tissues were collected at day 14. TMX, tamoxifen.

(B) Representative images of KRT8 and P2X3 immunostaining of circumvallate papilla sections from control and RZ dKO mice. Only a few residual KRT8+ taste cells are present in control mice; in contrast, numerous KRT8+ taste cells have regenerated in RZ dKO mice. Little or no P2X3 staining is present in taste tissues in either control or RZ dKO mice, although P2X3 signal is detected in the mesenchymal core. n = 4 for each group. Scale bars, 50 μm.

(C) Number of KRT8+ taste buds in the circumvallate papilla from control and RZ dKO GLx mice. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ∗∗∗p = 0.0002. n = 4 for each group. Each point represents a single mouse. CvP, circumvallate papilla.

(D) Analysis of the depth of trench of the circumvallate papilla in GLx + Control and GLx + RZ dKO mice. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. n.s., not significant. n = 4 for each group.

(E) Immunofluorescence staining for CAR4 (green) and α-Gustducin (red) of circumvallate papilla sections. Few residual CAR4+ or α-Gustducin+ cells are present in control mice after GLx, compared with multiple CAR4+ or α-Gustducin+ cells in RZ dKO mice after GLx. Cell nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars, 50 μm.

(F and G) Numbers of CAR4+ taste cells (F) and α-Gustducin+ taste cells (G) in circumvallate papilla in RZ dKO and control mice after GLx. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ∗∗∗p < 0.0001 in (F) and p = 0.0007 in (G). n = 4 for each group. Each point represents a single mouse.

(H) Number of KRT8+ taste buds in the circumvallate papilla from RZ dKO and GLx RZ dKO mice. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. ∗p = 0.0437. n = 3 for RZ dKO group and n = 4 for GLx RZ dKO group. Each point represents a single mouse. CvP, circumvallate papilla.