Fig. 6

Treg cell-derived AREG promotes human intestinal myofibroblast activation and proliferation. (A) Human intestinal myofibroblasts (MFs) were isolated from CD patients and treated with or without 100 ng/ml AREG for 48 h, and Ki67 immunofluorescence were performed and percentage of Ki67⁺ cells were analyzed. Scale bars, 100 μm. (B) MFs were wounded and treated with the 100 ng/ml AREG for 24 h. Images were recorded and the extent of wound gap was analyzed by Image J. (C) MFs were cocultured with WT Treg or Areg^−/− Tregs and stained with Ki67. Percentage of Ki67⁺ cells were analyzed. (D) MFs were wounded and cocultured with WT Treg or Areg^−/− Tregs for 12 h. The extent of wound gap were analyzed by Image J. Scale bars, 500 μm. (E-H) MFs were cocultured with WT Treg or Areg^−/− Tregs for 3 days, ACTA2, COL1A1, COL6A1 and COL6A3 levels were detected by qRT-PCR. Representative data from 2–3 independent experiments with similar results. (A-H) Unpaired Student’s t-test; ^*p < 0.05; ^***P < 0.001; ns: not significant