Fig. 6.

Ectopic EGFR stimulation reduces severe colitis in Adam17^flox/floxMx1-Cre⁺ mice. a. Percent weight change of PBS-treated Adam17^flox/floxMx1-Cre⁺ (ΔAdam17_Mx1) (n = 6 mice) and TGF-α-treated ΔAdam17_Mx1 mice (n = 6 mice) after DSS administration. ΔAdam17_Mx1 mice were intraperitoneally injected with recombinant TGF-α (8 μg per injection) or with PBS at days 0, 2, 4 and 6 after DSS administration. Bars, mean ± s.d.; **, p < 0.01. b. Grade III lesions in PBS-treated ΔAdam17_Mx1 (n = 3 colon tissues) and TGF-α-treated ΔAdam17_Mx1 mice (n = 3 colon tissues) at day 8 after DSS administration. Bars, mean ± s.d.; **, p < 0.01. c. Images and quantification of colonic goblet cells in PBS-treated control and TGF-α-treated ΔAdam17_Mx1 mice at day 8 after DSS administration. Representative HE- and Alcian-Blue (AB)-stained colon sections from control and TGF-α-treated ΔAdam17_Mx1 mice at day 8 after DSS challenge are indicated in the left panel. Note that AB-positive mucus production is restored in ΔAdam17_Mx1 mice by TGF-α administration. Scale bars, 50 μm. Quantification of number of AB-positive goblet cells per 100 epithelial cells is shown in the right panel. Bars, mean ± s.d.; n = 3 colon tissues; *, p < 0.05. Results between the two independent groups were determined by Student's t-test. P values smaller than 0.05 are indicated on respective plots.