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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 Dec 15.
Published in final edited form as: Cell Mol Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016 Feb 1;2(2):175–188. doi: 10.1016/j.jcmgh.2015.12.004

Figure 4. Intestinal epithelial architecture and proliferation are dependent on Foxl1+ mesenchymal cells.

Figure 4

(A) Representative immunofluorescence images of human diphtheria toxin receptor (green) staining in the jejunum of control and Foxl1–hDTR mice, counterstained with DAPI to label nuclei (blue). (B,C) Intestinal morphology of the jejunum of DT-treated control mice (B) or Foxl1–hDTR mice (C) as assessed by hematoxylin/eosin (H/E) staining. Note the reduced number and length of intestinal villi in Foxl1–hDTR mice. (D) Quantification of small intestinal villus length. (n = 4, in each animal > 20 villi were measured; ***, P < 0.001) (E,F) Intestinal morphology of the proximal colon from DT-treated control (E) and Foxl1–hDTR mice (F). Note the decreased depths of the colonic crypts and the irregular localization of epithelial nuclei in Foxl1–hDTR mice. (G) Quantification of colonic crypt depth. (n = 4, in each animal > 20 crypts were measured; **, P < 0.005). (H,I) Representative immunofluorescence images of the proliferation marker Ki67 (red) counterstained with DAPI to label nuclei (blue) in the jejunum of control (H) and Foxl1–hDTR (I) mice after toxin injection. (J) Quantification of the number of proliferating cells per crypt unit in jejunum of DT-treated control and Foxl1–hDTR mice. (n = 20 crypts each) ***, P < 0.001. (L,M) Ki67 labeling (red) overlaid with DAPI for nuclei (blue) in the colon of DT-treated control (K) and Foxl1–hDTR (L) mice. The number of Ki67-positive cells is dramatically reduced in Foxl1–hDTR mice. Scale bars: 50 μm. (M) Quantification of the number of proliferating cells per crypt unit in the proximal colon of DT-treated control and Foxl1–hDTR mice. (n = 20 crypts each) ***, P < 0.001; **, P < 0.005.

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