Fig. 4: Igf1r signaling is required for preserving tanycytes and tissue repair.

a Violin plots showing the expression of the insulin receptor family, epithelial growth factor receptor family, fibroblast growth factor receptor family, and platelet-derived growth factor receptor family in ME tanycytes, and the microenvironmental cells. The clusters are distinguished by different colors. b tSNE scatter plots showing that Igf1r is enriched in the tanycyte population but Lepr is undetectably low in ME. Cluster c2 represents tanycytes, and c6 represents neurons in ME. c Top, experimental scheme. Bottom, representative confocal images immunostained for Sox2, Olig2, and DAPI in the ME of control and Igf1r conditional knockout mice at 2 months post tamoxifen injection. Scale bar: 50 µm. d Quantification of the number of Scn7a⁺ or Sox2⁺Olig2⁻ tanycytes and Sox2⁺Olig2⁺ OPCs in control and Igf1r-deficient mice. Boxes represent IQR, whiskers extend to ±1.5 IQR and dots represent outliers (n = 21, 20, 21, 20, 12, and 20 sections from at least three mice from bottom to top boxes). P values were analyzed using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. e Experimental scheme of mechanical injury in the ME of control and Igf1r conditional knockout mice followed by EdU labeling. f Sample confocal images stained for Sox2, Olig2, and EdU in injured ME of control and Igf1r-deficient mice. Scale bar: 50 µm. g Quantification of the mitotic cell number of tanycytes and OPCs in control and Igf1r-deficient mice. Boxes represent IQR and whiskers extend to ±1.5 IQR (n = 12 and 10 sections from three independent animals for Igf1r^f/f and Rax-Igf1r^f/f groups, respectively). P values were analyzed using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001; N.S. not significant. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. The precise P values are summarized in Supplementary Data 3.