Journal: Nature Communications
Article Title: Autocrine ECM molecules establish MSC quiescence during incisor development by disrupting WNT ligand trafficking process
doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-65705-z
Figure Lengend Snippet: a – d Knockout of Smoc1/2 leads to elevated Wnt activity. a Gene Ontology and KEGG analyses of differentially expressed genes in the mesenchyme of control versus Smoc1/2 DKO incisors at E16.5. b , c Quantitation of expression levels of Axin2 and Lef within individual apical pulp cells of Smoc2 + /- littermate control and Smoc1/2 DKO. Two-tailed Mann–Whitney U test; Axin2 : control vs DKO, p < 0.0001; Lef1 : control vs DKO, p < 0.0001. d Mip-seq analysis showing RNA expression of Axin2 and Lef1 in the incisor of control and Smoc1/2 DKO mice. Scale bars: 50 μm. Representative images from three independent experiments with similar results. e – g Knockout of Smoc1/2 did not significantly affect Wnt6 and Wnt10a RNA levels but changed their protein distribution. e UMAP feature plots showed comparable transcription levels of Wnt6 and Wnt10a in control versus Smoc1/2 DKO incisors at E16.5. f MIP-seq data showed similar RNA expression levels and patterns of Wnt6 and Wnt10a in incisors of Smoc2 + /- littermate controls and Smoc1/2 DKO mice embryos at E16.5. g Antibody staining of WNT6 and WNT10a in incisors of Smoc2 + /- littermate control and Smoc1/2 KO embryos at E16.5. Scale bars: 100 μm. White arrows indicate RNA probe signals in incisor epithelium, while yellow arrows show RNA probe signals in incisors mesenchyme. White asterisks indicate positive immunostaining signals, while yellow asterisks show low signals in the apical pulp regions of incisors. Representative images from three independent experiments with similar results. h , i Quantitation of panels ( f ) revealed no significant difference in the percentage of cells expressing Wnt6 or Wnt10a RNA between control and Smoc1/2 DKO mice incisors. j , k Quantitation of g showed significantly more pulp cells positive for WNT6+ and WNT10a+ immunostaining in Smoc1/2 DKO mice incisors compared to controls. Data are presented as mean ± SEM. n = 3 biological replicates; unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test. Wnt6 + cell: control vs DKO, p = 0.2071; Wn10a + cell: control vs DKO, p = 0.6739, WNT6+ cell: control vs DKO, p = 0.0003; WNT10a+ cell: control vs DKO, p = 0.0026; N.S.: not significant. l – v Organ culture of incisor tooth germs at E16.5. l The schematic drawing illustrates the experimental scheme for the explant culture. Created with MedPeer (medpeer.cn). Organ culture experiments were conducted using wild-type control incisor explants incubated with WNT6 beads ( m ), WNT6 + SMOC2 beads ( n ), WNT10a beads ( o ), or WNT10a + SMOC2 beads ( p ). The samples were subsequently stained with WNT6 or WNT10a antibodies, respectively, and the staining results were quantified in ( u ). q – t Similar beads explant experiments were performed using Smoc1/2 DKO incisor embryos at E16.5, and the results were quantified in ( v ). Data are presented as mean ± SEM. n = 3 biological replicates; unpaired two-tailed Student’s t -test. WNT6+ cell: control-WNT6 vs control-WNT6-SMOC2, p = 0.4189, control-WNT6 vs DKO-WNT6, p < 0.0001, DKO-WNT6 vs DKO-WNT6-SMOC2, p = 0.0001; WNT10a+ cell: control-WNT10a vs control-WNT10a-SMOC2, p = 0.8690, control-WNT10a vs DKO-WNT10a, p = 0.0003, DKO-WNT10a vs DKO-WNT10a-SMOC2, p = 0.00; N.S.: not significant. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.
Article Snippet: Recombinant Wnt6 (CSB-EP026140MO, CUSABIO) and Wnt10a (CSB-EP026129MO, CUSABIO) proteins were procured for the preparation of Wnt6-beads and Wnt10a-beads.
Techniques: Knock-Out, Activity Assay, Control, Quantitation Assay, Expressing, Two Tailed Test, MANN-WHITNEY, RNA Expression, Staining, Immunostaining, Organ Culture, Incubation