Figure 6. Cathepsin B deficiency or anti-TNFα treatment attenuate polyposis.

(a) Non-linear regression analysis of polyp number and diameter, assuming Gaussian distribution; APC^Δ468 Ctsb^−/− (continued line, open squares), and APC^Δ468 (dotted line, closed triangles). Note that Cathepsin B^−/− mice had fewer and smaller polyps. (b) Frequencies of ProSense-680 active leukocytes amongst total MNCs prepared from the intestine of APC^Δ468 (open bar, 6.7%±086%) or APC^Δ468Ctsb^−/− (filled bar, 11%±0.69%, P = 0.0037; unpaired t test with Welsh correction). (c) Frequencies of ProSense-680 active CD11b⁺Gr1⁺ (mean 0.56%) or CD11b⁺F4/80⁺ (mean 4.46%) cells, from the intestines of APC^Δ468 (open bar) and APC^Δ468Ctsb^−/− mice (filled bars); P<0.001, n = 6, 2way ANOVA. Note that Cathepsin B deficiency predominantly impacted the abundance of CD11b⁺Gr1⁺ cells. (d) Attenuation of polyposis in anti-TNFα treated mice (solid line, open squares, n = 6), as compared to the APC^Δ468 (dotted line & closed triangles). (e) Frequencies of CD11b⁺Gr1⁺ amongst total intestine live MNCs; APC^Δ468Ctsb^−/− intestine (light gray bar, 0.56±0.15%, P<0.001), anti-TNFα treated (dark gray bar, 0.71±0.22%, P<0.001), untreated APC^Δ468 (open bar, 4.2±0.093%), wt control intestine (black bar, 0.15±0.051%). (f) Frequencies of CD11b⁺F4/80⁺ in the APC^Δ468 (5.03±0.78%), APC^Δ468Ctsb^−/− intestine (5.36±0.92%), and anti-TNFα treated intestine (dark gray bar, 3.0±0.67%).