Epimorphin^–/– mice have increased intestinal growth, decreased susceptibility to dextran sodium sulfate colitis, and impaired spermatogenesis
J. Clin. Invest. Yuan Wang, et al. 116:1535 doi:10.1172/JCI25442 [Go to this article.]

Figure 5
Crypt cell proliferation, crypt fission, villus morphology, and epimorphin expression in small intestine of epimorphin^–/– mice. (A and B) Representative histologic section depicting immunohistochemical detection of 5-BrdU incorporation into crypt epithelial cells in proximal jejunum of 3-week-old WT (A) and epimorphin^–/– (B) mice. Note the increase in 5-BrdU–labeled cells in the null mice. (B and C) Crypt fission is detected in proximal jejunum of epimorphin^–/– mice in 5-BrdU–immunostained tissue (B, arrow) or in H&E-stained tissue (C, arrow). (D) Abnormal villus morphology in 3-week-old epimorphin^–/– intestine. (E) Epimorphin expression in stromal cells of jejunum. Epimorphin was detected with an anti–epimorphin–syntaxin 2 antibody, which was preabsorbed with purified intestinal protein from epimorphin^–/– mouse jejunum, as described in Methods. Arrows depict stromal myofibroblasts that express epimorphin.