Fig. 4

The vagus nerve improves the outcome of lung injury and promotes LSCs proliferation via α7nAChR. a Mice received a vagotomy or sham operation 5 days before PBS, LPS (2.5 mg/kg), or LPS+GTS-21 (4 mg/kg) challenge. Kaplan-Meier plot of Sham+PBS, Sham+LPS, Vx+LPS, or Vx+LPS+GTS-21 groups. b Changes in mouse body weight in the Sham+PBS, Sham+LPS, Vx+LPS, or Vx+LPS+GTS-21 groups. c The lung pathologic injury changes were revealed by hematoxylin and eosin staining in Sham+PBS, Sham+LPS, Vx+LPS, or Vx+LPS+GTS-21 groups; scale bar, 200 μm. d The statistical results of the lung injury score. e The percentage changes of Ki67⁺ cells gated out of total live lung cells. f The percentage changes of Sca1⁺CD45⁻CD31⁻ lung stem cells (LSCs) gated out of total live lung cells. g The number of Ki67⁺ LSCs. h Cell viability gated for LSCs. N = 3–8 in each group. Data are presented as the mean ± SD. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.00, as assessed by one-way ANOVA