Figure 1.

Quantitative analyses of immune cells in the small intestinal mucosa showed an increase in T-lymphocytes in NPP7 KO mice. Small intestines from NPP7 HT and KO mice, and WT mice, were stained for various immune cell populations by immunohistochemistry. Computerized image analysis was used to quantify positivity (stained fraction of tissue area) reflecting cell numbers. (A) Representative bright-field images of small intestines from WT mouse (left) and NPP7 KO mouse (right), out of 32 and 46 images, respectively, illustrating the staining for CD3ε⁺ T-lymphocytes in brown (DAB chromogen) and the quantitative image analysis for CD3ε⁺ T-lymphocytes shown in red; (B) CD3ε⁺, CD4⁺ and CD8α⁺ T-lymphocytes; (C) Foxp3⁺ T_regs; (D) B-lymphocytes; (E) CD138⁺ plasma cells; (F) IgA⁺ cells; (G) Zap70⁺CD3ε⁻ NK cells; (H) Representative images of small intestine from WT mouse (left) and NPP7 KO mouse (right), out of 32 and 46 images, respectively, illustrating the quantitative image analysis for CD11c⁺F4/80⁻CD163⁻ DCs shown in orange; (I) CD11c⁺F4/80⁻CD163⁻ DCs; (J) Macrophages; and (K) MPO⁺ neutrophils. Each dot represents an individual mouse and is the mean of two staining experiments. Columns show the group mean ± SD. *P<0.05, **P<0.001, ***P<0.001.