Figure 1.
Micrographs of the small intestinal mucosa from Balb/c mice treated with anti-CD3 or hamster IgG control antibody (40×). (A) Mucosa 20 hours after treatment with anti-CD3. The villi are shortened and oedematous; goblet cells and intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) are depleted. In the crypt regions, epithelial cells are difficult to distinguish and many apoptotic bodies can be found. Note villus height, short crypts, goblet cells, and IEL. (B) After 40 hours, villi are short and plump. Apoptotic bodies have disintegrated into nuclear fragments. (C) Mucosa 72 hours after anti-CD3 treatment. (D) Five days after anti-CD3 treatment, the mucosa appears normal. Terminal uridine nick-end labelling (TUNEL) assay demonstrates DNA fragmentation as a hallmark of apoptosis of epithelial cells 12 hours after anti-CD3 injection ((E) 40× and (F) 10× magnification).