Fig. 2

UroA/UAS03 enhance tight junction proteins in AhR-dependent manner. a HT29 cells were treated with vehicle (DMSO-0.01%)/UroA/UAS03 (50 μM) for 24 h. mRNA levels of Cytochrome P450 1A1 (Cyp1A1) was measured by RT PCR. b Cyp1A1 protein levels were measured using immunoblots and quantified band intensities by Image J software. c Cyp1A1 enzyme activity was measured by P450-Glo Cyp1A1 assay. HT29 cells were treated with UroA or UAS03 (0.1, 1, 10, 25, 50 µM) or FICZ (0.1, 1, 10, 25, 50 nM) for 24 h and enzyme Cyp1A1 activity was measured. d C57BL/6 and AhR^−/− (n = 3) mice were treated orally with Vehicle (0.25% CMC), UroA or UAS03 (20 mg/kg) for 1 week and Cyp1A1 activity was measured in colons and livers by ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assay. e The cells expressing AhR-reporter (luciferase) were treated with Veh or UroA/UAS03 or ellagic acid (EA) or MeBio (AhR high affinity ligand) for 6 h and fold change of luminescence over vehicle treatment was measured. f Immunofluorescence confocal images of HT29 cells treated with vehicle/UroA/UAS03 (50 μM) for 6 h. The cells were stained with anti-AhR antibody (red) and DAPI (blue). Relative fluorescence (n = ~20 cells) in the cytosol and nucleus was measured. The scale bar indicates 10 μm. g AhR levels in cytosol and nuclear fractions of HT29 cells treated for 2 h with Veh or UroA/UAS03 (50 μM). h AhR or i Cyp1A1 was knocked down using siRNA in HT29 cells and the cells were treated with vehicle/UroA/UAS03 (50 μM) for 24 h and immnunoblots were performed to detect expression of AhR, Cyp1A1, and Cldn4. Scrambled (Sc) siRNA transfections were used as controls. Immunoblots were quantified using Image J software. The data is representative of two independent repeats with triplicate wells for each treatment. Statistics performed using unpaired t-test using Graphpad Prism software. All in vitro studies were performed in triplicates. Error bars, ±SEM; ***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; **p < 0.05. Source Data are provided as a Source Data File