Fig. 2: Sensory innervation is required in PEMF-induced bone formation.

20-month-old male Adville-Cre::iDTR (iDTR_Avifl/-) mice and iDTR^wt mice were subjected to treatment with either PEMFs at a strength of 3.8 mT and frequency of 8 Hz for 1 hour, or were left untreated, over a period of 4 weeks. a Representative micro-CT images of distal femoral cancellous bones. b Immunofluorescence staining of femur sections using antibody against CGRP (red). DAPI stains nuclei blue. c–f Quantification of the trabecular cancellous bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular cancellous bone number (Tb.N), trabecular cancellous bone thickness (Tb.Th), and trabecular cancellous separation (Tb.Sp), n  =  5 biological replicates for each group. g Representative images of immunofluorescence staining of femur sections using antibodies against Perilipin (green) and Opn (red). DAPI stains nuclei blue. h Quantitative analysis of the CGRP+ sensory nerves (red), n  =  5 biological replicates for each group. i, j Quantitative analysis of the number of Perilipin+ cells per mm² of primary trabecular tissue and the relative areas of Opn (N. Perilipin⁺ cells/Ar, Quantative relative area), n  =  5 biological replicates for each group. Ar, tissue area. Data are represented as mean ± SEM, statistical analyses were conducted with a 95% confidence interval. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 by two-way ANOVA.P value:(c) P < 0.0001(sham iDTR^wtvsPEMFs iDTR^wt), P < 0.0001(iDTR^wt PEMFsvsiDTR_Avifl/- PEMFs). (d) P = 0.0613 (sham iDTR^wtvsPEMFs iDTR^wt), P < 0.0001(iDTR^wt PEMFsvsiDTR_Avifl/- PEMFs). (e) P = 0.0013 (sham iDTR^wtvsPEMFs iDTR^wt), P < 0.0001(iDTR^wt PEMFsvsiDTR_Avifl/- PEMFs). (f) P = 0.0147 (sham iDTR^wtvsPEMFs iDTR^wt), P = 0.0062(iDTR^wt PEMFsvsiDTR_Avifl/- PEMFs). (h) P < 0.0001(sham iDTR^wtvsPEMFs iDTR^wt), P < 0.0001(iDTR^wt PEMFsvsiDTR_Avifl/- PEMFs). (I) P < 0.0001(sham iDTR^wtvsPEMFs iDTR^wt), P < 0.0001(iDTR^wt PEMFsvsiDTR_Avifl/- PEMFs). (j) P < 0.0001(sham iDTR^wtvsPEMFs iDTR^wt), P < 0.0001(iDTR^wt PEMFsvsiDTR_Avifl/- PEMFs). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.