Journal: Nature Communications
Article Title: Pericytes are organ-specific regulators of tissue morphogenesis
doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-71643-1
Figure Lengend Snippet: a , b Confocal images of Bdnf iPCKO and littermate control lungs stained for ICAM2 (green) ( a) or ERG (green) and DAPI (blue) ( b ). c Confocal images of Bdnf iPCKO and littermate control lungs showing PDGFRβ-labeled pericytes (green) and DAPI-stained nuclei (blue). d Confocal images of Bdnf iPCKO and littermate control lungs showing EdU (red)-stained ECs (ERG+ , green). e Confocal images of NKX2.1-stained alveolar epithelial cells (gray) and LAMP3+ type 2 alveolar epithelial cells (green) in Bdnf iPCKO and littermate control lungs. f–m Graphs showing the ICAM2-stained vascular density based on 3D reconstruction surface images, as shown in ( a ) ( f ), percentage of ERG+ EC nuclei in total cells ( g ), percentage of PDGFRβ+ cells in total cells ( h ), ratio of ERG+ cells to PDGFRβ+ cells ( i ), the number of EdU+ ECs per area (283 × 283 × 22 µm) ( j ), ratio of LAMP3+ AT2 epithelial cells to total cells ( k ), airspace volume ( l ), and lung volume measurement ( m ) in P21 Bdnf iPCKO and littermate control lungs. Data represent mean ± s.e.m. ( n = 4 ( f – i ), n = 5 ( j–l ), n = 8 ( m ); P -values, unpaired two-tailed Student t -test. n Confocal images of Bdnf iPCKO and control lungs stained for RAGE (gray). o Confocal images showing TrkB immunostaining (gray) in ICAM2+ (red) ECs in pulmonary capillaries. p Validation of expression of Ntrk2 (encoding TrkB) in ECs by scRNA-seq analysis. UMAP plot showing color-coded EC subclusters, namely arterial, venous, general capillary (gCap) and aerocytes (aCap), in P21 lung (left). Ntrk2 expression in gCap endothelial cells (right). q Western blot showing TrkB and Phospho-TrkB (p-TrkB) in Bdnf iPCKO and littermate control total lung lysates. Molecular weight marker (kDa) is indicated. β-Actin is shown as a loading control. Quantitation of p-TrkB/TrkB ratio is shown in the graph below. Data represent mean ± s.e.m. ( n = 4 control and 3 mutants); P -values, unpaired two-tailed Welch’s test. r Confocal images of ICAM2+ (red) and ERG+ (green) endothelial cells, and PDGFRβ+ cells (gray) in EC-specific Ntrk2 iΔEC loss-of-function mutant and littermate control lungs. s Confocal images of Ntrk2 iΔEC and control lungs showing EdU (red)-stained ECs (ERG+, green).Graphs showing the ICAM2-stained vascular density ( t ), percentage of ERG + EC nuclei in total cells ( u ), percentage of PDGFRβ+ cells in total cells ( v ), ratio of ERG+ cells to PDGFRβ+ cells ( w ), the number of EdU+ ECs per area (283 × 283 × 22 µm) ( x ), airspace volume ( y ), and lung volume measurement ( z ) in P21 Ntrk2 iΔEC and littermate control lungs. Data represent mean ± s.e.m. ( n = 4 ( t – x ), n = 5 ( y ), n = 7 ( z ); P -values, unpaired two-tailed Mann–Whitney test in t and unpaired two-tailed Student t -test in ( u–z ). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Article Snippet: Mouse brain endothelial cells (b.End3, ATCC, cat. #CRL-2299) were cultured in DMEM (Sigma, D6546) supplemented with penicillin/streptomycin (PAA, P11-010) and 10% FCS, and kept in a humidified incubator at 37 °C, 10% CO 2 .
Techniques: Control, Staining, Labeling, Two Tailed Test, Immunostaining, Biomarker Discovery, Expressing, Western Blot, Molecular Weight, Marker, Quantitation Assay, Mutagenesis, MANN-WHITNEY