Skip to main content
. 2016 Sep 10;5(3):35. doi: 10.3390/cells5030035

Figure 5.

Figure 5

Ageing leads to upregulation of all colonic keratins in DC and PC in a differential manner. Proximal colon (PC) and distal colon (DC) keratin levels and distribution were analyzed in 3 and 14 months (mo) old mice (n = 3 for 3 months old mice, lanes 1–3 and 7–9, n = 3 for 14 months old mice, lanes 4–5 and 10–12) by protein analysis and immunofluorescence staining. (A–C) Keratin Western blotting and quantification (normalized to loading control Hsc70) of colon lysates showed that K8, K18 and K20 were upregulated in PC, whereas K7 was highly and K19 slightly upregulated in DC. * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001. (D,E) The K20 upregulation in novel single cells below the luminal epithelium in 14 months old mice was confirmed by immunofluorescence staining in PC (panel a–b, b magnified from boxed area in c, arrow heads) and DC (panel d–e, e magnified from boxed area in f, arrow heads) as broader localization in the crypts. Nuclei (DNA) are shown in blue. L = lumen, scale bars = 50 μm. (E) The increased number of single-cell K20-positive cells/crypt in PC and DC of young and old mice is shown. N = 20 crypts. Numerical data are shown as average ± SD. Statistical significance for Western blot data was determined by t-test.