Fig. 7: Activation of autophagy sustains MSCs.
From: Sensory nerve niche regulates mesenchymal stem cell homeostasis via FGF/mTOR/autophagy axis
a–e Abnormal dentin deposition seen in Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl mice can be rescued by rapamycin treatment for 3 months. a CT scanning of control, Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl mice treated with vehicle (Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh) and Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl mice treated with rapamycin (Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Rap). White arrow points to the dental pulp cavity; white arrowhead points to narrowed pulp cavity. b Histological analysis of these three groups. Yellow arrow points to normal pre-odontoblast; yellow arrowhead points to abnormal pre-odontoblast; asterisk points to abnormal dentin formation. c Expression of Dspp in these three groups. Yellow arrow points to the distance between the bending point of the cervical loop and the initiation of odontoblast differentiation. d Quantification of dental pulp cavity percentage in these three groups. Control vs Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh: P = 0.0001; Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh vs. Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Rap: P = 0.0006. e Quantification of the distance of Dspp+ cells to cervical loop. Control versus Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh: P < 0.0001; Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh versus Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Rap: P < 0.0001. f Re-activation of autophagy benefits the retention of MSCs. Gli1+ cells labeled with β-gal in control, Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl mice treated with vehicle or rapamycin. g Quantification of the percentage of Gli1+ cells. Control versus Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh: P = 0.0002; Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh versus Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Rap: P = 0.0002. h TACs detected with Ki67 staining in control, Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl mice treated with vehicle or rapamycin. i Quantification of Ki67+ TAC cells. Control versus Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh: P < 0.0001; Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Veh versus Gli1CreER;Fgfr1fl/fl + Rap: P = 0.0021. For d, e, g, and I, n = 3 biologically independent samples, each data point represents one animal, with unpaired one-way ANOVA analysis. All data are expressed as the mean ± SD. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, ****P < 0.0001. Each experiment was repeated independently three times. White dotted line outlines the cervical loop. Scale bars, 100 μm.
