Fig. 1: Atg7 deletion in colonic epithelium protects against C. rodentium infection.
From: Inhibition of Atg7 in intestinal epithelial cells drives resistance against Citrobacter rodentium
a Body weight changes in WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice after oral infection with C. rodentium (n = 9 WT and n = 10 Atg7ΔIEC from two independent experiments). Two-way ANOVA with Greenhouse–Geisser correction. b Quantification of bacterial burden in stool (CFU/g) over time from WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice (n = 6 WT and n = 8 Atg7ΔIEC from two independent experiments). c Relative quantification of colon weight/length ratio from WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice before (uninfected, UI) and after infection at day 8 and day 18 p.i (UI: n = 7 WT, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC; at day 8 p.i: n = 10 WT, n = 11 Atg7ΔIEC; and at day 18 p.i: n = 6 WT, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments). d Histological analysis of WT and Atg7ΔIEC colonic epithelium after C. rodentium infection. Representative hematoxylin & eosin (H&E), Ki67 and alcian blue (BA) staining on colonic sections from WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice before and after infection at day 8 and day 18 p.i. Scale bar = 100 µm. Quantification of colonic crypts length (n = 6 mice per condition from two independent experiments), Ki67 positive cells per crypts (UI: n = 6 WT, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC, at day 8: n = 6 WT and n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC, at day 18 p.i: n = 8 WT and n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC day 18 p.i. from two independent experiment) and BA-positive cells per crypts (UI: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 8 p.i: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice and at day 18 p.i: n = 8 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments). Significant differences: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ns not significant, determined by unpaired t-test. Mean ± SEM.
