FIGURE 10:
Formation of intestinal organoids is impaired in the absence of PrPc. (A) Organoid initiation frequency from intestinal crypts of WT or PrP KO mice. The symbols represent the mean numbers of organoids per well 6 d after seeding (2–6 wells/experiment) expressed as percentage of plated crypts. Bars represent the mean ± SEM from the three independent experiments. (B) Phase contrast microscopy images 7 d after plating, showing the smaller size of organoids obtained from PrP KO mice. Bar, 200 μm. (C) E-cadherin, β-catenin, and KI-67 immunostaining of 7-d organoids. Although smaller and less abundant, PrP KO organoids have a normal epithelial organization, as shown by E-cadherin and β-catenin staining (top), but exhibit smaller, KI-67–positive crypt domains (bottom). Note that using the same focus for both genotypes, only part of the WT organoids may be visualized in the fields. Bar, 50 μm.