Fig. 5

Tppp3⁺ cells give rise to a portion of tenocytes in the HO site. a Schematic of the experiment: Tppp3^ECE/+;R26R^tdT;Scx-GFP animals were administered TMx for 3 continuous d, and reporter activity was examined at 3 weeks after injury. b tdT⁺ and Scx-GFP expression within representative sagittal sections of the middle area of the tenotomy site. The dashed white line indicates the margins of tendon-like tissue. The dashed white box in the upper panels is magnified in the lower panels (scale bars in panels: 200 µm). c Quantification of tdT⁺ and Scx-GFP⁺ cells within the tendon-formed area (n = 5 animals per group). d tdT⁺ cells and Tnmd immunofluorescence staining within representative sagittal sections of the middle tenotomy site. The dashed white line indicates the margins of tendon-like tissue. The dashed white box in the upper panels is magnified in the lower panels. e Quantification of tdT⁺ and Tnmd⁺ cells within the tendon-formed area (n = 4 animals per group) (scale bars in panels: 200 µm). D: deep; T: tendon; S: superficial. For all graphs, each dot represents a single animal, with the mean ± 1 SD indicated. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kruskal‒Wallis test with Dunn’s post hoc multiple comparisons test. ^*P < 0.05