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. 2013 Nov 13;8(11):e80608. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080608

Figure 1. Tripotent gastric stem cells maintain the copper cell region.

Figure 1

(A-B) The adult copper cell region (CCR) is a physiologically distinct region of the midgut; anterior (A), posterior (P). (A) Feeding with the pH indicator dye bromophenol blue reveals the acidic copper cell region with a pH <3 (yellow). (B) Anti-Cut specifically marks the acid-secreting copper cells that give rise to the acidic compartment present in A. (C-D) esg-lacZ expressing gastric stem cells (GSSC, white) are interspersed among copper cells (CC, anti-Cut+, red) and are located basally in the epithelial layer in close proximity to the surrounding visceral muscle (24B>GFP +, green). (C) Superficial section. Asterisk shows enteroendocrine cells. Inset shows a pair of enteroendocrine cells that can be further characterized by neuropeptide expression, Allatostatin C (purple) and Neuropepide F (orange). (D) Cross-section. (E-F) esg>GFP marks progenitor cells in the adult midgut. (E) Quiescent esg>GFP + gastric stem cells (GSSC) in the copper cell region (CCR) are typically found as single small rounded cells. (F) Actively dividing esg>GFP + intestinal stem cells and their undifferentiated daughters are typically present as “doublets” in the posterior midgut (Post). (G-H) MARCM labels a tripotent gastric stem cell lineage in the CCR. (G) A GFP labeled MARCM clone (anti-GFP+, green). (H) The same clone shown in G spans all three differentiated cells types found in the region; copper cells (CC, anti-Cut+, red), interstitial cells (IS, Dve-lacZ +, green), and enteroendocrine cells (ee, anti-Pros+, red). Scale bars: 200μm in B, 20μm in C, D, E and G.