Figure 1

Dectin-1 expression in colon and its involvement in macrophages activation after incubation with mouse faeces. A) Dectin-1 staining (Nova Red) of WT colon using 2A11 on frozen sections. Sections were counterstained with haematoxylin. Representative image of un-inflamed tissue shows some dectin-1 expressing cells (arrows) in the mucosa. Representative image of inflamed colon after 7 days of DSS induce colitis showing an increase in dectin-1 expressing cells. The antibodies seemed to stick more to the inflamed tissue as is shown with the isotype control staining. B) Fluorescent immunohistochemistry showing DAPI, CD11b and dectin-1 staining of healthy intestine showing that dectin-1 expressing cells also express CD11b suggesting its macrophages, dendritic cells and neutrophils in the intestine that express dectin-1 (arrows). TNFα (C) and IL-10 (D) protein concentrations were measured in the supernatants of thioglycollate elicited macrophages isolated from WT C57BL/6 (white bars) or C57BL/6 dectin-1-/- (black bars) mice. Macrophages were incubated for 24 hours at 37°C with medium, zyomsan (0.5 particles/cell), LPS (100 ng/ml), LTA (5 ug/ml), MDP (10 ug/ml) or supernatants of mouse faeces. These data are representative of three independent experiments done in duplicate, error bars indicate the SD. A t-test was used for statistical analysis. *, p < 0.05.