Fig. 8

In vitro epithelial–mesenchymal aggregations after COL4A treatment. a, b Control and type IV collagen-treated epithelial–mesenchymal co-cultures. Septum-like formations are outlined. Type IV collagen treatment (5 μg/mL) results in bigger epithelial–mesenchymal aggregations. c, f Localized PDPL expression is found in controls and, more highly expressed, in type IV collagen-treated co-cultures. d, g α-SMA staining is dispersed throughout the co-cultures with clear accumulation of α-SMA⁺ of the co-culture aggregations. e, h Co-localization of PDPL and α-SMA. i, j Staining of co-culture with COL4A shows increased accumulation of Col4a1-stained condensed fibers