Fig. 5

DSG2-deficient (DSG2^ΔIEC) mice exhibit enhanced susceptibility to Citrobacter rodentium (C. rod.)-induced colitis. a Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of colon sections with quantification of epithelial hyperplasia (Hypl), detachment (Detachm) and inflammatory immune cell infiltration (Inflm) as well as colon crypt length determination was performed in DSG2^ΔIEC mice and their floxed littermates (DSG2^fl/fl or fl/fl) 14 days after oral infection with C. rod. (n = 7). Scale bar = 200 μm. Data are shown as dot plots. b Ki-67 immunohistochemistry with morphometric quantification visualize the proliferation in colon sections 14 days post infection with C. rod. (n = 7). c, d Real time RT-PCR for the highlighted cytokines and the antimicrobial product REGIIIβ as well as immunoblotting for the indicated signaling molecules were conducted in untreated and in C. rod.-infected mice (n = 4–7). L7 (mouse ribosomal protein) gene and β-tubulin (βTub) were used as an internal and a loading control, respectively. mRNA expression in untreated fl/fl mice was arbitrarily set as 1 and other levels are presented as ratio. Immunohistochemistry illustrates phosphorylated STAT3 in colon sections of C. rod.- infected mice. Scale bar b, d = 100 μm. Two-tailed Student’s t test (a, b upper panels in c) or Mann–Whitney test (lower panels in c) were used for statistical analyses of C.rod.-exposed mice.*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01