Fig. 6

Epithelial remodeling and inflammation in EoE are attenuated by blockade of Areg-EGFR signaling. A Experimental design for the in vivo administration of αAreg and erlotinib to C57BL/6 mice with acute EoE. B H&E-stained sections showing the esophagus of control and acute EoE mice treated with or without αAreg and erlotinib. C Immunofluorescence image analysis of the esophageal epithelium and basal cell hyperplasia in EoE mice following EGFR signaling blockade (red: p-EGFR; green: Ki67; blue: DAPI, X200). D Quantification of Ki67⁺ basal cells in the uncropped original images of (C). E Schematic representation of mouse esophageal organoid and ILC2 coculture. F Frequencies of Sox2⁺ and Ki67⁺ basal cells. G Representative phase contrast images of the esophageal epithelial organoids in each group, along with quantification of organoid diameter. Scale bars = 50 µm. H Immunofluorescence image analysis of the esophageal epithelium and basal cell hyperplasia in EoE from WT, Rag1KO, and DKO mice (red: p-EGFR; green: Ki67; blue: DAPI, X200). I Quantification of Ki67⁺ basal cells in the uncropped original images of (H). The data were pooled from at least 2‒3 independent experiments and are presented as the means ± SEMs. *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P ≤ 0.001, and ****P ≤ 0.0001; ns, not significant