Fig 2: Seasonal mRNA expression of Prl (a), Prlr (b) and Stat5 (c) in the scented glands. The error bars represent means ± SEM (n = 3, each period). B, breeding season; NB, non-breeding season. *P<0.05.

Fig 3: The linear correlation and scatter diagrams of relative expression of Prl, Prlr and Stat5 and weight of the scented glands of the muskrats. Each dot means the relative mRNA level and weight of the scented glands of six individual muskrats obtained in the breeding season (n = 3) and the non-breeding season (n = 3).

Fig 4: Seasonal immunolocalization of PRL, PRLR, STAT5 and pSTAT5 in the scented glands of the muskrats. Black arrows indicate the three cell types: glandular cells, epithelial cells and interstitial cells. The first column (a,e,i,m) represents staining in the breeding season. The second column (b,f,j,o) represent staining in the non-breeding season. The third (c, g, k, p) and fourth (d, h, l, q) columns represent staining in the positive and negative control, respectively. a,b) Immunolocalization of PRL in the scented glands. e,f ) Immunolocalization of PRLR in the scented glands. i,j) Immunolocalization of STAT5 in the scented glands. m,o) Immunolocalization of pSTAT5 in the scented glands. PRL, PRLR, STAT5 and pSTAT5 detected in the mammary glands were used as a positive control (c,g,k,p). Negative control sections were treated with normal rabbit serum instead of primary antisera (d,h,l,q). B, breeding season; NB, non-breeding season; PC, positive control; NC, negative control; GC, glandular cell; EC, epithelial cell; IC, interstitial cell. Scale bars: 25 µm.