Fig. 5: LA@PA-TA@C hydrogel rescued epithelial regenerative ability and regulated epithelial regeneration patterns in vivo. | Nature Communications

Fig. 5: LA@PA-TA@C hydrogel rescued epithelial regenerative ability and regulated epithelial regeneration patterns in vivo.

From: Multiplexed self-adaptable Janus hydrogels rescue epithelial malfunction to promote complete trachea repair

Fig. 5

a Venn diagram of tracheal epithelial regeneration-associated DEGs. DEGs were firstly identified after intersecting all the DEGs with the epithelial regeneration and tracheal epithelium-related gene set in public databases. b heatmap of the DEGs in a. c GSEA enrichment plot showing the top-ranked epithelial regeneration-associated pathways were upregulated in LA@PA-TA@C group. d the columnar mucociliary structure of native tracheal epithelium. Cilia cells (AC-Tub, blue arrow), goblet cells (MUC5ac, PAS staining, green arrow), basal cells (CK14). Cell nuclei (DAPI, blue). e rabbit trachea samples were harvested and stained at indicated timepoints. Epithelial regeneration patterns in rabbit epithelial model were detected after treated by different hydrogel groups on the 1-, 2-, and 4-weeks post-operation. f quantitative statistics of regenerated epithelial thickness in e. g–p explore the patterns of epithelium proliferation and mucociliary differentiation. g the spatial distribution of proliferating cells (PCNA, marker of proliferation, organ; Tunel, marker of apoptosis, green; DAPI, cell nuclei, blue). h quantitative statistics of PCNA expression. i quantitative statistics of Tunel expression 4-weeks post-operation. j basal cell migration contributed to epithelial barrier reconstructing (CK14, marker of epithelial stemness, red; ZO-1, marker of epithelial barrier function, green; DAPI, cell nuclei, blue). k quantitative statistics of ZO-1 expression. l quantitative statistics of CK14 expression. m functional cilia regeneration. Gross morphology (HE staining), ciliogenic (AC-Tub, green), and epithelial plasticity (CK-14, red). n quantitative statistics of cilia-related AC-Tub expression. o functional regeneration of goblet cells. Gross morphology (HE staining), mucogenic (PAS, purple; MUC5ac, green), and epithelial stemness (CK-14, red). Cell nuclei (DAPI, blue). p quantitative statistics of MUC5ac expression. The dashed line represents the basement membrane. n = 4. Scale bar, 50 μm. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. Data are presented as mean ± SD. All error bars represent SD. p values calculated using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test.

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