Supplementary Figure 6: Molecular characterization of recellularized mucosa.

(A) WNT/β-catenin signaling was restored in recellularized mucosa, detected by immunostaining of β-catenin (green). (B) Immunostaining of proliferative marker Ki67 (yellow) revealed the growth dynamic patterns of recellularized crypts. Blue nuclei, DAPI; scale bars, 20 µM. (C) ELISA experiments were performed to measure MUC2 protein levels. Substantially higher MUC2 levels were observed in the culture medium of recellularized colon compared with those in the medium of hCEC cells or decellularized colon matrices alone (student-t test), indicating the recellularized colon’s physiological function of mucous secretion. All of the recellularized tissues or hCEC cells had been cultured for 4 weeks before they were terminated from culture and prepared for immunostaining or MUC2 quantification. n = 5 independent matrices.