Fig. 6: Il21r deficiency leads to increased incidence of miscarriage and defective spiral artery remodeling.

a Mating strategy for experiments in (b–e) and (Supplementary Fig. 6a-e). b Numbers of neonates from groups 1, 2, and 3 (n = 13, 14, and 13 per group; **P = 0.0013, ***P < 0.0001). c Implanted embryos in uteri of gd11.5 dams from groups 1, 2, and 3. Blue arrow and rectangle indicate resorbed fetus. d Resorption rate in gd11.5 dams from groups 1, 2, and 3 (n = 5, 6, and 7 per group; *P = 0.0293, *P = 0.0188), calculated by (the number of resorptions) / (the number of resorptions and normal implantations). e Body weight of neonates from groups 1, 2, and 3 on the day of birth (n = 35, 33, and 26 per group; ***P = 0.0004, ***P = 0.0001). f Hematoxylin and Eosin (H & E) staining showing the whole implantation site from gd11.5 WT (left) and Il21r^-/- (right) dams (top). Remodeling of spiral arteries in decidua basalis are assessed by their wall and lumen area (bottom). g Quantification of vessel wall areas of spiral arteries from gd11.5 WT and Il21r^-/- dams (n = 19 and 15 per group; **P = 0.0018). Each data point represents the mean of five measurements in an implantation site. h Quantification of the ratio between vessel wall area and the corresponding lumen area in spiral arteries of gd11.5 WT and Il21r^-/- dams (n = 15 per group; **P = 0.0075). Each data point represents the mean of five measurements in an implantation site. i Immunohistochemical analysis of smooth muscle actin (SMA, brown) in gd11.5 WT and Il21r^-/- dams. Blue arrows indicate the increased thickness of spiral artery vessel walls in Il21r^-/- dams. Scale bar, 50 μm. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM. P-values are calculated by two-sided unpaired t-test, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Data are representative of at least three independent experiments (b–i). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.