Fig. 3

p40 promotes intestinal cell differentiation before weaning in wild-type mice. Mice were treated with p40 as described in Fig. 2. Fixed tissue sections and RNA were prepared from the small intestine and the colon of 2- and 3-week-old mice. a The small intestinal tissue sections were immunostained using an anti-Sucrase-isomaltase antibody and a Cy3-labeled secondary antibody (red staining). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue staining). b, e Real-time PCR analysis was performed to detect gene expression levels of Sucrase-isomaltase in the small intestine and Muc2 in the colon. The average of mRNA expression levels in 2- and 3-week-old mice in the no-p40 group was set as 100%, and the mRNA expression level of each mouse in p40-treated group was compared to the average of the same age group. c, d The colon tissue sections were immunostained using an anti-Muc2 antibody and a horseradish peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody (brown staining) and were developed using DAB. Sections were counterstained with hematoxylin. The numbers of MUC2 positively stained cells are shown. n = 5–7 mice in each group. Images in a and c represent 3–5 mice in each group