Fig. 4

EC-EXO regulated the molecular mechanism and signaling pathways associated with SC repair-related phenotypes in vitro. A The heat map displayed the expression ratios of different genes between control group and EXO-treated group. B GO term analyses of significantly changed genes in control group and EXO-treated group regarding their involvement in BP, CC and MF. C Significantly enriched KEGG pathways related to the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) obtained from the comparison of control group and EXO-treated group. D Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of nerve regeneration-associated pathways in different groups. NES, normalized enrichment score. FDR, false discovery rate. E The bar graph depicted the significant genes associated with SC repair-related phenotypes from RNA-seq data, including GDF15, CCN1, JunD, TXNIP and KLF10. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3). F PCR validation of differentially expressed mRNAs in control group and EXO-treated group. G The relative protein expression of SC repair phenotype-related transcription factors (c-Jun, STAT3 and p-STAT3) in different groups was detected through western blot. H Quantification of c-Jun, STAT3 and p-STAT3 protein levels in each group. Data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3). I, J Western blot and statistical analysis of PI3K, p-PI3K, AKT, p-AKT and PTEN. The data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3). ns = not significant, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001