Figure 2
From: Role of the kidneys in the redistribution of heme-derived iron during neonatal hemolysis in mice
Increase in Hmox1 gene expression and disappearance of erythroblastic islands in the liver of mice during the neonatal period. (a) RT-qPCR analysis of HO1 transcript levels in the liver of mouse neonates from 3 to 11 days old. The histogram displays the relative HO1 mRNA levels in arbitrary units (means ± S.D.). N values for each group are: 3dpp = 5, 5dpp = 5, 7dpp = 4, 9dpp = 4, 11dpp = 5. Data set for Hmox1 expression has normal distribution, therefore, one-way ANOVA was used (p = 0,0098, df = 4, F = 4, 6). Tukey’s Multiple Comparison Test was used as post-hoc test. Capital letters denote significant differences between the age groups, with p < 0.01. (b) Immunofluorescent staining of HO1 (red channel) and co-localization of HO1 with F4/80, a macrophage marker (green channel) in the livers of neonatal mice, analyzed by confocal microscopy. Hematopoiesis centers in the liver are surrounded by dotted white lines. Cell nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (blue). Scale bars correspond to 10 µm. To confirm the specificity of HO1 and F4/80 detection, liver sections were incubated only with the mixed secondary antibodies (negative control). (c) Hematoxylin/eosin staining of liver sections. Hematopoietic centers present in liver are visible as groups of cells with intensely stained cell nuclei. Scale bars correspond to 50 µm in the main images, and to 20 µm in the magnified inserts. dpp – days postpartum.
