Figure 5.

mNCCs and tmNCCs might be the same population of descending vNCCs. (A) Representative image of E11.5 vGlut2^Cre;R26^tdTom guts with PHOX2B and TUJ1 staining. Dotted lines mark the sites of sections shown in panels B–D, and arrowheads indicate mNCCs within the mesentery. Vagus axons project into the stomach at E11.5 (arrow). (B–D) Transverse sections showing the presence of PHOX2B⁺ mNCC (arrowheads) in the mesentery. Note fewer cells in the antimesenteric side of the bowel. (E) Whole-mount preparation of an E11.5 gut from Wnt1^Cre;R26^tdTom;Ednrb^-/- embryos showing scattered NCC clumps within the aganglionic gut (arrowheads). (E’) High magnification of the boxed area in E. The same sample as shown in panel E, showing the presence of mNCCs in the isolated mesentery. (F) Whole-mount preparation of the gut from E12.0 Wnt1^Cre;R26^tdTom;Ednrb^-/- embryos. (F’) Magnified boxed area in panel F showing the mesenteric-to-antimesenteric distribution of eNCCs within the midgut. (F’’) Transverse section at the level indicated by the dotted line in panel F. Arrowheads indicate TOM⁺/SOX10⁺ mNCCs. (F’ and F’’) Green dotted lines and red dotted lines mark the mesenteric and antimesenteric borders, respectively. anti-m, antimesenteric border; D, duodenum; DAPI, 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; HG, hindgut; m, mesenteric border; ME, mesentery; MG, midgut; ST, stomach.