Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Tissue-scale mechanics controls differentiation strategy and dynamics of epithelial multilayering
doi: 10.64898/2026.02.08.704529
Figure Lengend Snippet: A. Dot plot of Gene set enrichment analyses (GSEA) from differentially expressed genes in basal cells of E14.5 versus E15.5/E16.5 embryos from scRNAseq data. B, C. Representative images (B) and quantification (C) of tissue sections from E14.5-16.5 embryos analyzed by mass cytometry. Note increased expression of basement membrane Collagen IV (counterstained with K10) and integrins α6 and β1 (mean ±SD; scale bars 50 µm; n=3 embryos/stage; Two-way ANOVA/Tukey’s (Left and middle panel), Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn’s (right panel)). D. Basement membrane Young’s moduli extracted from AFM force indentation experiments (Tukey’s box and whiskers; n>200 force curves pooled across 3embryos/stage; Kolmogorov-Smirnov). E. Representative images and quantification of skin wholemounts from E14.5 and E15.5 embryos stained for pMLC2 and phalloidin. Note increased pMLC2 intensity at cell junctions and interface between basal and suprabasal layers (arrows) (min-max box and whiskers; scale bars 10 µm; n=5 embryos/stage; Mann-Whitney) . F. Representative snapshots from live imaging movies and subsequent PIV analyses of velocity magnitudes of E14.5 and E15.5 epidermis from membrane-Tomato (mTomato) reporter mice. Red masks mark excluded hair follicle areas (scale bars 50 µm). G. Quantification of 2D cell perimeter, area and circularity from data in (A) (Tukey’s box and whiskers; n>2300 cells pooled across 3 embryos/stage; Mann-Whitney). H. Quantification of cell densities from data in (A) (mean ±SD; n=4 embryos/stage; Mann-Whitney). I. Quantification of velocity magnitudes from data in (A). Note attenuated velocity at E15.5 (mean ±SD; n=4 embryos/stage; Linear Mixed-Effects model.
Article Snippet: The samples were laser-ablated at 200 Hz using a Hyperion imaging mass cytometry system (Fluidigm) coupled to a Helios time-of-flight mass cytometer with a resolution of 1 μm.
Techniques: Mass Cytometry, Expressing, Membrane, Staining, MANN-WHITNEY, Imaging