Taurine suppresses gastric intestinal metaplasia in patient-derived organoids and Atp4a-/- mice

Figure 1 Identification of the gastric intestinal metaplasia mouse model and the effects of taurine intervention. A: Hematoxylin and eosin staining of the mouse gastric mucosa (n = 6); B: Alcian blue-periodic acid Schiff staining of the mouse gastric mucosa (n = 6); C: Relative expression levels of gastric intestinal metaplasia-related genes detected by quantitative PCR (qPCR; n = 6); D: Relative expression level of MUC5AC detected by qPCR (n = 6). ^aP < 0.05 vs wild-type (WT); ^bP < 0.01 vs WT; ^cP < 0.05 vs Atp4a^-/-; ^dP < 0.01 vs Atp4a^-/-.

Figure 2 Taurine increases the mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) level and inhibits the expression of caudal type homeobox 2, MUC2, and Trefoil factor family 3 in Atp4a^-/- mice. A: Expression of caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2), mucin 2 (MUC2), Trefoil factor family 3 (TFF3) and MUC5AC in Atp4a^-/- mouse gastric tissues was assessed via immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining (n = 6); B: IHC scores of CDX2, MUC2, and TFF3 (n = 6); C: IHC score of MUC5AC (n = 6). ^aP < 0.01 vs Atp4a^-/-; ^bP < 0.01 vs wild-type (WT).

Figure 3 Effects of taurine on gastric intestinal metaplasia organoids. A: Typical growth progression of normal human gastric organoids over 7 days in culture; B-E: Expression levels of gastrointestinal-related markers in patient 1; F-I: Expression levels of gastrointestinal-related marker genes in patient 2; J-M: Expression levels of gastrointestinal-related marker genes in patient 3. ^aP < 0.05 vs normal control (CON); ^bP < 0.01 vs normal CON; ^cP < 0.001 vs normal CON; ^dP < 0.05 vs gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) control; ^eP < 0.01 vs GIM CON.

Figure 4 Taurine downregulates the protein expression of caudal type homeobox 2 and Trefoil factor family 3 in gastric intestinal metaplasia control organoids. A-C: Western blotting was conducted to assess the protein levels of caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2) and Trefoil factor family 3 (TFF3); D-I: Relative protein levels were quantified. ^aP < 0.01 vs normal control; ^bP < 0.05 vs gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) control (CON); ^cP < 0.01 vs GIM CON.