Fig. 4.

Myeloid cells VDR-specific knockout led to reduced mucus thickness, bacterial dislocation, and reduced Claudin-10 expression tumor tissues of VDR^ΔLyz mice. (A) Mucus thickness decline in the colon of the VDR^ΔLyz mice in FISH staining. Images are from a single experiment and are representative of 4 mice per group. Three points were randomly selected for each mouse. (Data are expressed as mean ± SD. n = 12, Welch's t test). (B) Mucus thickness decline in the VDR^ΔLyz mice colon compared to VDR^Loxp mice. Representative images of Alcian Blue/PAS staining of the colon of VDR^Loxp and VDR^ΔLyz mice. The space between apical membranes of the epithelial cells and gut microbiome is indicated by a dashed red line. Images are from a single experiment and are representative of 4 mice per group. Three points were randomly selected for each mouse (data are expressed as mean ± SD. n = 12, Welch's t test). (C) Goblet cells number decreased in the VDR^ΔLyz mice colon compared to VDR^Loxp mice. Images are from a single experiment and are representative of 4 mice per group. Three points were randomly selected for each mouse (data are expressed as mean ± SD. n = 12, Welch's t test). (D) Bacteria were increased in the tumors of VDR^ΔLyz mice as indicated. Images are from a single experiment and are representative of 6 mice per group (data are expressed as mean ± SD. n = 6, one-way ANOVA test). (E) Claudin-10 was decreased in the tumors of VDR^ΔLyz mice, compared to VDR^Loxp mice by immunofluorescence staining. Images are from a single experiment and are representative of 6 mice per group (data are expressed as mean ± SD. n = 6, one-way ANOVA test) [41]. Claudin-10 was decreased in tumor tissue of VDR^ΔLyz mice by Western blots (data are expressed as mean ± SD. n = 3, one-way ANOVA test). Claudin-3, Claudin-4 and Claudin-7 were unchanged in the colon of VDR^ΔLyz mice compared to VDR^Loxp mice treated with AOM/DSS. All p values are shown in the figure.