Fig. 2

Mad1 regulates developmental cell death and Mad–Myc balance controls the expansion of adult intestinal epithelial cells. a Methyl green-pyronin Y (MGPY) staining, which stained the proliferating adult epithelial cells strongly (purple), reveals increased adult stem cell clusters in the knockout animals compared to those in the wild-type tadpoles after 3 days of T3 treatment. Premetamorphic stage 54 tadpoles were treated with 5 nM T3 for 0, 2 or 3 days and were killed 30 min after EdU injection. See [58] for more details. b Quantitative analysis of MGPY-positive areas in the epithelium and normalized by the total cellular area in epithelium. The statistical significance of the differences was determined by Student’s t test (*P < 0.05). Tadpoles of each genotype (n = 3–5) were used for counting MGPY-positive areas in the epithelium. See [58] for more details. c Cell proliferation is significantly increased in Mad1 (−/−) tadpoles treated with T3 for 3 day compared to that in the wild-type ones. Cross-sections of the intestine of the tadpoles above were stained for cell proliferation by EdU staining. EdU positive areas in epithelium of X. tropicalis intestine were measured and normalized against the total cellular area in epithelium determined by Hoechst staining. The statistical significance of the differences was determined by Student’s t-test (*P < 0.05). Tadpoles of each genotype (n = 3–5) were used for counting EdU-positive areas in the epithelium. See [58] for more details. d More intestinal epithelial cell death in T3-treated wild-type animals than that in Mad1 (−/−) tadpoles. Cross-sections of the intestine of the tadpoles above were stained for apoptosis by TUNEL. Quantitative analysis of apoptosis by counting TUNEL-positive areas in the epithelium and normalized by the total cellular area in epithelium determined by Hoechst staining. The statistical significance of the differences was determined by Student’s t-test (*P < 0.05). Tadpoles of each genotype (n = 3–5) were used for counting TUNEL-positive areas in the epithelium. See [58] for more details. e Summary of the changes in cell proliferation (EdU) and apoptosis (TUNEL) in the intestinal epithelium after 5 nM T3 treatment for 0, 2 or 3 days in wild type and Mad1-knockout animals. Note that Mad1 knockout not only enhances the cell proliferation but also reduces cell death in the epithelium during T3-induced metamorphosis