Figure 7

Gene ontology analysis of Hox⁺ vs. Hox⁻ periosteal cells. (A) Hox⁺ periosteal cells are enriched in biological processes associated with stem-like cells, such as embryonic skeletal system morphogenesis and development, and mesenchyme migration (red), while the Hox⁻ periosteal cells exhibit features characteristic of more committed progenitor cells and terminally differentiated cells (blue). GO categories ranked by significance (p ≤ 0.05 or −log₁₀(p) ≥ 1.3). (B) Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) plots demonstrate that Hox-positive SSCs positively correlate with the gene set for stemness (RAMALHO_STEMNESS_UP). (C) Aggregated enrichment of ATAC-seq signal around all transcription start sites in Hox⁺ (red) and Hox^- (blue) periosteal cells.