Fig. 3: Loss of Atg7 modulates T lymphocytes recruitment and shapes Th17/Treg responses during C. rodentium infection.
From: Inhibition of Atg7 in intestinal epithelial cells drives resistance against Citrobacter rodentium
a Representative IHC staining for CD3 and CD4 on colonic sections from WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice before and after infection at day 8 and day 18 p.i. Quantification of CD3-positive cells (UI: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 8 p.i: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 18 p.i: n = 8 WT mice and n = 7 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments) and CD4+ cells (UI: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 8 p.i: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 18 p.i: n = 8 WT mice and n = 7 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments). b Representative IF staining for CD4/Rorγt and CD4/Foxp3 on colonic sections from WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice at day 8 and day 18 p.i. Quantification of CD4 and Rorγt double-positive cells (at day 8 p.i: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 18 p.i : n = 7 WT mice and n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments) and CD4 and Foxp3 double-positive cells (at day 8 p.i: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice and at day 18 p.i : n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments). c Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis of T effector cells harvested from colonic lamina propria during C. rodentium infection. Representative flow cytometry plots of Rorγt+ IL-17A+ cells (Th17) and Foxp3+IL-10+ cells (Treg) within CD4+ Tcrβ+ cells from the colon of WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice at day 8 and day 18 p.i. Quantification of Rorγt+ IL-17A+ cells (Th17) (at day 8: n = 9 WT mice, n = 8 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 18 p.i: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments) and Foxp3+IL-10+ cells (Treg) (at day 8: n = 8 WT mice, n = 7 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 18 p.i: n = 6 WT mice, n = 6 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments) in the lamina propria. d Relative IL-22 mRNA levels assessed by qRT-PCR on colonic epithelium from UI, day 8 or day 18p.i from WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice (UI: n = 7 WT mice, n = 9 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 8 p.i: n = 9 WT mice, n = 10 Atg7ΔIEC mice; at day 18 p.i: n = 9 WT mice and n = 10 Atg7ΔIEC mice from two independent experiments). e Representative phospho-STAT3 staining of colonic sections from WT and Atg7ΔIEC mice at day 8 p.i. Black scale bar =100 µm. Significant differences: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ns not significant, determined by unpaired t-test. Mean ± SEM.
