Figure 7.

Mfge8 deficiency does not impair apoptotic cell engulfment in the SED. (A) Heavy cytoplasmic inclusions of MEG-E8 (green) and E-cadherin (red) were detected within MNP within the SED (arrows). (B) In the SED of WT and Mfge8^−/− mice, strong cytoplasmic inclusions of E-cadherin (red) were detected within CD11c⁺ MNP (green) indicative of the uptake of apoptotic epithelial cells (arrows). (C and D) Apoptotic cells (TUNEL⁺, green) and CD11c⁺ MNP (red) were detected by IHC in the SED (C) and B cell follicles (D) of Peyer's patches from WT and Mfge8^−/− mice. Bar charts show the mean number of MNP-bound apoptotic cells in the SED (C) and B cell follicles (D) of Peyer's patches of WT (open bars) and Mfge8^−/− mice (closed bars). FO, follicle. Each bar represents data from the analysis of 100–300 MNP from each mouse strain.