Fig. 6: GRHL3 represses Wnt pathway gene expression in basal IFE cells.

a Violin plot showing the Wnt4 (left) and Lef1 (right) expression for each cell among the basal cell types in the WT (both biological replicates) and the Grhl3^−/− (both biological replicates) IFE. There is higher number of Wnt4-high and Lef1-high cells in all basal and aberrant populations in the Grhl3^−/− than in the WT. b Expression of Dkkl1 projected on the pseudotime trajectory for the WT (top) and the Grhl3^−/− (bottom) IFE. Note the decreased number of cells expressing Dkkl1 in the Grhl3^−/− IFE. c Representative RNA-FISH images of Wnt4 (upper panels) and Lef1 (lower panels) in WT and Grhl3^−/− P0 epidermis. There is increased Wnt4 expression and aberrant expression of Wnt4 in cells above the basal layer in Grhl3^−/− IFE as indicated with white arrowheads. There is increased Lef1 expression in the basal layer in the Grhl3^−/− IFE as indicated with white arrowheads. N = 3 WT and Grhl3^−/− littermates. E epidermis, D dermis, HF hair follicle. d Representative RNA-FISH image of Dkkl1 in WT and Grhl3^−/− P0 epidermis. There is decreased Dkkl1 expression in the suprabasal layers in Grhl3^−/− IFE. N = 3 WT and Grhl3^−/− littermates. White broken lines trace the basal lamina. E epidermis, D dermis, HF hair follicle. Scale bars = 10 µm.