Fig. 4

Batf2 deficiency drives an increased fibro-granulomatous inflammation in the small intestine of S. mansoni infected mice. Control littermates (WT) and Batf2^−/− mice were percutaneously infected with 80 live S. mansoni cercariae and were killed at 8 weeks post-infection. Liver and small intestinal tissues were collected from naïve and 8 weeks infected WT and Batf2^−/− mice. a Batf2 mRNA expression relative to Hprt housekeeping gene by RT-PCR to quantify Batf2 mRNA levels. b Representative survival rate and c body weight change of mice post-infection measured each week up to week 12. d Summary of body weight at week 8 post-infection. Mice were killed at 8 weeks post-infection to determine the number of S. mansoni eggs lodged in the liver (e) and small intestinal f tissues, g the liver weight in grams, the length of the h small intestine (from base of stomach to beginning of cecum) and i colon respectively in cm. j Representative H&E staining of small intestinal sections (scale bar = 200 µm). k Number of small intestinal cells from animals 8 weeks post-infection. l Levels of hydroxyproline and m representative CAB staining of small intestinal sections (scale bar = 200 µm) as a measure of fibrosis. n Representative H&E staining for analysis of small intestinal tissue integrity (scale bar = 200 µm). Error bars denote mean ± SEM. Data shown are representative of one to three independent experiments with a sample size of n = 8–10 mice per group. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001 vs WT using one-tailed Student’s t-test, with survival measured using Log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test, and the body weight change measured using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. ns not significant