Fig. 1: Abundance and ___location of Lgr5⁺ cells in the NMR intestine.

a Representative confocal images of mouse and NMR small intestinal (duodenum) crypts co-stained with species-specific Lgr5 RNAscope probe (red), anti-EpCAM antibody (yellow) and DAPI (blue). White arrows indicate Lgr5-expressing (Lgr5⁺) cells. Bar graph showing the mean percentage (±SEM) of Lgr5⁺ cells in total epithelial cells per crypt in wild-caught mice (12-months-old) and wild-caught NMRs (12-months-old) (n = 138 crypts counted from 3 animals per species, P < 0.0001, t-test). b Co-stained confocal images of the mouse, human and NMR distal colonic crypts. White arrows indicate Lgr5⁺ or LGR5⁺ cells. Bar graph showing the mean percentage (±SEM) of Lgr5⁺ or LGR5⁺ cells per colonic crypt in mice (12-months-old, n = 129 crypts counted from 3 animals), humans (28–33 year-old, n = 30 crypts from 4 individuals) and NMRs (12-months-old, n = 150 crypts from 3 animals). Exact P-values from t-tests are shown on the graph. c Scatter plot showing the mean percentage (±SEM) of Lgr5⁺ cells at specific positions relative to the crypt base in the small intestine. 87% of Lgr5⁺ cells reside at positions 0 to 3 in mice and 76% are found at positions 0 to 4 in NMRs (n = 276 cells counted at each position using 3 animals per species). The inset represents the numbering schema used for each cell along the crypt axis. d Distribution of rodent Lgr5⁺ or human LGR5⁺ cells (mean percentage ± SEM) at specific positions in the colonic crypts. 62%, 68% and 80% of Lgr5⁺ or LGR5⁺ cells reside at positions 0 to 4 in mouse, human and NMR crypts, respectively (n = 258 cells counted at each position from 3 animals per rodent group; n = 130 cells counted at each position from 4 human samples). In all cases, statistical significance was determined by Student’s t-tests using two-tailed, unpaired and unequal variance. Scale bars are indicated on the images (20 µm).