Figure 4

SASP induced by short telomeres are controlled by the cGAS-STING pathway.

(A) Representative images of senescence-associated beta galactosidase staining in skin, testis, kidney, marrow and intestine (n_WT = 3, n_tert-/- = 3, n_sting-/- = 3, n_{tert-/- sting-/-} = 3). Scale bar = 100 µm. (B) RT-qPCR analysis of inflammatory markers and SASP factors in the skin (n_WT = 4–8, n_tert-/- = 5–8, n_sting-/- = 6–7, n_{tert-/- sting-/-} = 5–7; cdkn2a/b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.035, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.009, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting -/- p = 0.004; cdnk1a: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.025, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.014, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.013; il1b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.023, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.031, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.004,; tgf1b: sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.014, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.017; mmp15a: sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.011, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.009). (C) RT-qPCR analysis of inflammatory markers and SASP factors in the testis (n_WT = 4-7, n_tert-/- = 6–11, n_sting-/- = 5–7, n_{tert-/- sting-/-} = 5–8; cdkn2a/b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.0234; cdnk1a: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.013, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.018; il1b: tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.030; tgf1b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.029, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.020, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.043; mmp15a: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.004, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.016, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.028). (D) RT-qPCR analysis of inflammatory markers and SASP factors in the kidney marrow (n_WT = 5–9, n_tert-/- = 5–11, n_sting-/- = 6–11, n_{tert-/- sting-/-} = 6–10; cdkn2a/b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.0001, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.00003, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.0006; cdnk1a: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.002, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.0005, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.005; il1b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.047, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.003, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.014; tgf1b: sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.005; mmp15a: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.009, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.011, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.008). (E) RT-qPCR analysis of inflammatory markers and SASP factors in the intestine (n_WT =  5–7, n_tert-/- = 5–8, n_sting-/- = 5–6, n_{tert-/- sting-/-} = 5–7; cdkn2a/b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.0004, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.001, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.038; cdnk1a: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.007, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.0009, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.011; il1b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.004, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.012, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.009; tgf1b: WT vs tert-/- p = 0.034, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.003; mmp15a: WT vs tert-/- NS p = 0.060, sting-/- vs tert-/- p = 0.021, tert-/- vs tert-/- sting-/- p = 0.070). All data are presented as the mean ± s.e.m.; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, using a one-way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test. Source data are available online for this figure.