Fig. 4: Mice with selective EGFR deletion in neutrophils had accelerated functional recovery associated with fewer renal neutrophils after ischemic injury.

A Schematic of the experimental protocol with IRI-UNX induced by unilateral pedicle clamping for 28.5 min plus uninephrectomy. B–D NeutEGFR^−/− mice had accelerated functional recovery from the ischemic insult, indicated by more rapid BUN decline (n = 4–8) (B), lower KIM1 and NGAL protein levels (n = 5) (C) at day 1 after ischemic injury. D Three days after ischemic injury, NeutEGFR^−/− mice had fewer renal CD45+ leukocytes and CD45⁺CD11b⁺Gr-1⁺ while CD45⁺CD11b⁺F4/80⁺ macrophage numbers were numerically but not significantly different than WT mice (n = 4 and 7). E–G: Immunofluorescent staining indicated: E, F increased numbers of p-EGFR expressing neutrophils (n = 6) in WT mice after ischemic injury and (E, G) significantly fewer p-EGFR+ neutrophils in NeutEGFR^−/− mice at 16 and 72 h after ischemic injury (n = 6). Scale bar = 50 μm. Data are means ± SD (B, F), means ± SEM (C, D, G), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, analyzed using 2-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test for B and F; 2 tailed Student’s t test for (C, D and G).