Figure 2. Isolated, clonally-derived ICC stem cells transplanted into diabetic NOD/LtJ mice differentiate into ICC.

(A) Expression of H-2K^b detected by flow cytometry in 2xSCS70 cells. PE-Cy5-SA, streptavidin coupled with PE-Cy5 tandem conjugate. Black histograms show controls stained with PE-Cy5-SA only. (B) Undifferentiated Kit^lowH-2K^b+ donor cells (arrowheads) on the serosal surface of the lesser curvature of the stomach of a transplanted mouse. All ICC (arrows) in this region were from the host. (C) An H-2K^b+Kit⁺ dividing cell with prominent ICC-like features in the same mouse. (D) Extensive incorporation of H-2K^b+ donor cells into Kit⁺ ICC networks in the distal corpus. Asterisks mark nonspecifically stained capillaries. (E) Quantitative estimate of colocalization of Kit and H-2K^b immunoreactivities in cell- and sham-transplanted mice. Overlap of red and green pixels was normalized to the number of green (Kit⁺) pixels in each confocal stack following equalization and binarization of the images (see Supplemental Methods). (F) Nonspecific staining of capillaries (asterisks) by mouse anti-H-2K^b monoclonal antibody and AF594-anti-mouse IgG in a sham-transplanted NOD/LtJ mouse. Background staining in the H-2K^b image was gamma-enhanced to demonstrate lack of nonspecific staining of Kit⁺ ICC. Scale bars are 50 μm.