Fig. 7: Estrogen activates quiescent Nestin⁺ perivascular cells via inhibiting Notch activity.

a Immunofluorescence longitudinal images of ovariectomized Nestin-CreER; Rosa-Tomato uteri 24 h after exposure to oil control or estrogen, using the same regimen and timing as shown in Fig. 4e. White arrow indicates Tomato⁺ cell that expresses Ki67, while cyan arrow indicates Ki67-negative Tomato⁺ cell. b Quantification of Ki67⁺Tomato⁺ cell number per unit area (n = 3 mice). c Immunofluorescence longitudinal images of ovariectomized CBF:H2B-Venus uteri 24 h after exposure to oil control or estrogen. The white arrow indicates Ki67⁺Nestin⁺ cell without Venus expression, while the cyan arrow indicates Ki67⁺Nestin⁺ cell that co-expresses Venus. d Quantification of Ki67⁺Venus⁺ cell number per unit area after exposure to oil control or estrogen (n = 3 mice). e Immunofluorescence images of Venus⁺ cells from P60 CBF:H2B-Venus endometrium after in vitro culture for 4 days in various treatment conditions or vehicle control (DMSO and ethanol). f Quantification of percent Venus⁺ (left) and Ki67⁺ (right) cells in in vitro culture assays (n = 5–7; each dot represents one mouse-derived culture). Le luminal epithelium; V blood vessels. Thin scale bar: 200 μm; thick scale bar: 100 μm. Statistical significance was determined using a two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. Exact P-values are provided in the Source Data file. Data in (b, d, f) are presented as mean ± SD. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.