FIG. 2.

Depletion of mucus-containing goblet cells occurs in the distal colon and is pronounced when the C. rodentium burdens peak. (A to D) PAS staining of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue sections obtained from the proximal (A and B) and distal (C and D) colons of both naïve (uninfected) mice (A and C) and mice at day 10 p.i (B and D). There was a reduction in overall PAS staining within many crypts in distal colons at day 10 p.i., although scattered PAS-positive cells were still evident (arrows in panel D). Bars = 100 μm. DIS, distal colon; PROX, proximal colon. (E and F) Representative images of PAS-positive cells at day 10 p.i. exhibiting a large mucin-filled goblet cell morphology (arrows in panel E) or a mucin-depleted columnar morphology (arrows in panel F). The images are representative of at least three independent infections with two or three mice per time point.