Fig. 6: TNC-expressing cells were significantly increased in fibrotic kidneys.

In bi-transgenic TNC^{CreER2-eGFP/+}; R26^tdTomato/+ mice, the recombination happens in the cells that express TNC in the presence of tamoxifen, and then these TNC-expressing cells and their daughter cells will be labeled with red fluorescence protein tdTomato permanently (A). In normal kidneys, tdTomato also identified TNC-expressing cells rich in the papilla, scattered in the outer medulla, and rare in the cortex (B, E). After UUO (tamoxifen given for 5 days after operation), the tdTomato positive cells were significantly increased in both the renal cortex and medulla (C, D, F, p < 0.0001), and these cells were neither AQP2 nor Lotus Tetragonolobus Lectin (LTL) positive tubular epithelial cells (G, H). (n = 5, 3 slides for each).