Extended Data Fig. 4: Boosting osteocyte-derived sclerostin levels impairs synaptic plasticity and cognitive function in aged mice.
A. The constructive graph of osteocyte-special SOST knock-in (KI) mice. B. Q-PCR analysis of Sost mRNA expression levels in bone and other tissues, including lung, spleen, muscle, heart, kidney, liver, and brain tissues, from 6-month-old male KI and WT mice (n = 6 SOST-KI mice, n = 6 WT mice). C. The sclerostin levels in bone tissues from the SOST knock-in and WT mice were detected by IHC staining. D. Analysis of serum sclerostin levels in 6-month-old male KI and WT mice (n = 10 SOST-KI male mice, n = 6 WT male mice). E-F. Immunohistochemical staining (E) and the number of c-Fos-positive cells (F) in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus in 6-month-old male KI and WT mice (n = 20 brain slices from WT-male mice, n = 15 brain slices from KI male mice). G. Western blot and grey value analysis for the synaptic markers in 6-month-old male KI and WT mice (n = 3 biological samples for each group). H. Analysis of serum sclerostin levels in 6-month-old female KI and WT mice (n = 4 SOST-KI female mice, n = 4 WT female mice). I-J. Immunohistochemical staining (I) and the number of c-Fos-positive cells (J) in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus in 6-month-old female KI and WT mice (n = 20 brain slices from WT/KI female mice). K. Western blot and grey value analysis for the synaptic markers in 6-month-old KI and WT female mice (n = 3 biological samples for each group). Notes: Data are represented as mean ± SEM. Two-tailed unpaired t-test (B, D, F, G, H, J, K).
