Fig. 4

AKT/PI3K pathway inhibitor attenuated the effect. A Representative images of H&E staining of lung tissue sections from Sox9^CreER; Rosa^tdTomato mice after RILI. An AKT inhibitor was intragastrically administered after radiation damage. Lung tissues were collected 3, 7 and 14 days after drug treatment. n = 3. Scale bar, 100 μm. B Representative images of Masson’s trichrome staining in the AKT inhibitor group and control group. Scale bar, 100 μm. C Immunostaining of EDU+ in Sox9^CreER; Rosa^tdTomato mice after RILI and inhibitor treatment. The EDU+ staining score was assessed (right). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 as determined by unpaired Student’s t test. Scale bar, 50 μm. D, E Representative images of SOX9⁺ cell-driven lineage tracing in mice after radiation injury and inhibitor treatment. Percentage of tdTomato⁺ cells was assessed (right), respectively. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001 as determined by unpaired Student’s t test. Nuclei are labelled with DAPI (blue). n = 3. Scale bar, 50 μm