Figure 6.

Telocytes are increased during Kras-driven metaplasia development in the stomach. (A) Immunofluorescence staining of Ki67 (white), FOXL1 (red), PDGFRα (green), and DAPI (blue) on Mist1-Kras mouse stomach tissue. In the WT control, telocytes are situated near the gland's top with proliferative progenitor cells. However, in Mist1-Kras 1-month stomach, these telocytes are detected at the base where proliferative cells accumulate. Scale bar: 100 μm and 50 μm for enlarged. (B) Quantification of telocyte count. The number of FOXL1+ PDGFRα+ DAPI+ telocytes increased in Mist1-Kras metaplastic stomach. Data presented as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3 for Untreated and n = 4 for Mist1-Kras 1 month). ∗∗∗P < .001. Unpaired t test. (C) Quantification of telocyte distribution within the gland. Telocyte distribution is illustrated in distribution histograms, where the y-axis represents the relative height within the corpus gland, divided into 10% increments (1 = top and 0 = base), and the x-axis represents the percentage of telocytes in each region. Mist1-Kras 1-month stomach exhibited a redistribution of telocytes, showing a reduced presence at the top and an enhanced distribution at the mid and base regions. Data presented as mean ± standard deviation (n = 3 for Untreated and n = 4 for Mist1-Kras 1 month). ∗P < .05; ∗∗∗P < .001; ∗∗∗∗P < .0001. Dunnett multiple comparisons test; 2-way analysis of variance for interaction (F (9, 45) = 28.41; P < .0001).