Journal: Nature Communications
Article Title: Spatiotemporal interplay between epithelial and mesenchymal cells drives human dentinogenesis
doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-69545-3
Figure Lengend Snippet: a Split violin plots showing the expression distribution of WNT and NOTCH pathway components in DE (red) and DPL (blue). Each dot represents a single cell. Adjacent pie charts quantify the percentage of cells within the DE population expressing specific WNT and NOTCH ligands. b Dot plots illustrating the dynamic expression of WNT and NOTCH pathway genes in DE (left panel, red color scale) and DPL (right panel, blue color scale) across developmental stages. Dot size is proportional to the percentage of cells expressing the gene, and color intensity reflects the average z-score normalized expression level. PCW, post-conception weeks; Y, years. c Line graphs tracking the average expression of key WNT ( WNT6 , WNT7B , WNT10B ) and NOTCH ( JAG1 ) ligands within the DE population over time. d IF validation of the spatial localization of key WNT and NOTCH pathway proteins across different developmental stages. Target proteins (WNT6, WNT7B, WNT10B, DKK1, SFRP1, LRP6, LEF1, JAG1, NOTCH2, HEY1) are shown in green or red, with nuclei counterstained with DAPI (blue). Dotted lines outline the epithelial-mesenchymal boundary. Insets show magnified views of the indicated regions. Images are representative of experiments that were independently repeated three times with similar results ( n = 3 biological replicates). PT permanent tooth. Scale bars: 100 μm. Data in ( a – c ) are derived from scRNA-seq analysis of n = 2 biological replicates per developmental stage.
Article Snippet: Primary antibodies were applied against: DSPP (Abcam, ab216892), Ki67 (Cell Signaling Technology, 9129, Clone D3B5), KRT14 (Abcam, ab119695, Clone LL002), WNT6 (Abcam, ab50030), WNT7B (Proteintech, 10605-1-AP), WNT10B (Abcam, ab70816), LRP6 (Santa Cruz, sc-25317, Clone C-10), JAG1 (Abcam, ab300561, Clone EPR26388-51), NOTCH2 (Abcam, ab313453, Clone EPR28701-38), DKK1 (Abcam, ab61034, Clone EPR4759), SFRP1 (Proteintech, 26460-1-AP), HEY1 (Proteintech, 19929-1-AP), LEF1 (Abcam, ab137872, Clone EPR2029Y), BMP2 (Abcam,ab214821), BMP4 (Abcam, ab39973), GFP(CST, 2956, Clone D5.1) and rabbit IgG isotype control (CST, 3900, Clone DA1E) were added.
Techniques: Expressing, Single Cell, Biomarker Discovery, Derivative Assay