Fig. 4

UCHL3 is enriched in MS-BMDM-derived exosomes. a Differentially expressed proteins between MS-BMDM-EXOs and BMDM-EXOs. Red, increased expression; blue, decreased expression; grey, no difference. P < 0.05 and fold change > 2 or < 0.5 were considered significant. b Heatmap diagram of differential protein expression between MS-BMDM-EXOs and BMDM-EXOs. Red, increased expression; blue, decreased expression; grey, no difference. Top 15 upregulated proteins in MS-BMDM-EXOs (UCHL3 was ranked eleventh). c GO Biological Process enrichment analysis of the differentially expressed proteins between MS-BMDM-EXOs and BMDM-EXOs. d Western blotting of UCHL3 protein levels in BMDMs and BMSCs. e Western blotting of UCHL3 protein levels in BMDMs and MS-BMDMs. f Western blotting of UCHL3 protein levels in BMDM-EXOs and MS-BMDM-EXOs. g, h Representative immunofluorescence staining and quantification of F4/80⁺ (red) UCHL3⁺ (green) cells in the control and OTM groups at 14 d after OTM treatment (n = 6). White arrows indicate F4/80⁺UCHL3⁺ cells. D: dentin, AB: Alveolar bone, PDL: periodontal ligament. Scale bar: 100 μm. Data are shown as the mean ± SD. Two-tailed unpaired Student’s t test was performed. ***P < 0.001; ns, not significant