Fig. 2
The reduced expression of antimicrobial peptides in GK-deficient intestinal epithelium. RNA was extracted from (A) the upper small bowel and the lower small bowel tissues of untreated Villin-Cre;Gankyrinf/f (Villin-Cre;GKf/f) and Gankyrinf/f (GKf/f) mice, and (B) the upper small bowel tissues of DSS-treated Villin-Cre;GKf/f and GKf/f mice. The relative quantities of mRNA in all the above samples were determined by real-time qPCR and were normalized to the quantity of β-actin mRNA. The relative quantity of each mRNA in the untreated small intestine samples was assumed to be an arbitrary value of 1.0. Data are represented as mean ± SEM (n = 3). (C) Immunohistochemistry using anti-GK antibody and Hematoxylin & Eosin (HE) staining were performed on the upper small bowel samples of Villin-Cre;GKf/f, Cdx2-Cre;GKf/f, and GKf/f mice at day 7. Arrows indicate Paneth cells at the base of the intestinal glands. The numbers of Paneth cells per crypt and granules per one Paneth cell were shown. (D) RNA was extracted from the upper small bowel tissues of untreated Villin-Cre;GKf/f and GKf/f mice. The relative quantities of mRNA in all the above samples were determined by real-time qPCR and were normalized to the quantity of β-actin mRNA. The relative quantity of each mRNA in the untreated small intestine samples was assumed to be an arbitrary value of 1.0. Data are represented as mean ± SEM (n = 3). (E) RNA was extracted from the upper small bowel (jejunum) tissues of patients suffering from Crohn’s disease (i) with (n = 7) and (ii) without (n = 13) colonic involvement. The relative quantities of GK mRNA were determined by real-time qPCR and were normalized to the quantity of β-actin mRNA. The relative quantity of each mRNA in the untreated small intestine samples was assumed to be an arbitrary value of 1.0. * indicates a statistically significant difference (Student’s t-test, two tailed, P < 0.05)