Fig. 1: CREPT is required for maintaining the rapid turnover of the intestinal epithelium.

a Representative images of fluorescent CREPT staining in small intestines from WT and Vil-CREPT^KO mice. Images are representative of n = 4 mice per genotype. b Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of CREPT and Olfm4 in crypt cells and epithelial cells (crypt + villous cells). p = 0.0067 (CREPT); p = 0.0002 (Olfm4). n = 3 independent experiments. c Representative images of WT and Vil-CREPT^KO mice. d Quantification of body weights of WT and Vil-CREPT^KO mice. n = 11 WT mice and n = 9 Vil-CREPT^KO mice. p < 0.0001. e Representative images of Ki67 staining in duodenums of WT and Vil-CREPT^KO mice. Images are representative of n = 4 mice per genotype. f Representative confocal images of cell migration in WT and Vil-CREPT^KO mouse at 2-h, 24-h, and 72-h after EdU injection. Images are representative of 3 independent experiments (n = 6 mice per genotype). g Quantification of EdU⁺ cell number in each crypt 2 h after EdU labeling. n = 3 independent experiments. p = 0.0435. h Quantification of EdU⁺ cells migration length at 24 h. The migration distance of the fastest cells was measured from the bottom of the crypts. n = 3 independent experiments. p = 0.0017. i Quantification of Edu⁺ cell migration length at 72 h. The migration distance of the slowest cells was measured from the bottom of the crypts. n = 3 independent experiments. p = 0.0412. j Representative images of Paneth cells staining in duodenums of WT and Vil-CREPT^KO mice. n = 4 mice per genotype. k Representative images of goblet cells staining in the jejunum of WT and Vil-CREPT^KO mice. n = 3 mice per genotype. l Quantification of goblet cell number per villus. n = 3 mice per genotype. p = 0.0002. Statistics data represent mean ± SEM. All p values were generated by 2-tailed Student’s t-test. Scale bars: 20 μm (a and j), 100 μm (e, f, k).