Figure 4. E. coliis sufficient but not essential to promote hepatic γδT-17 cells.

Mice were treated with antibiotics as described in Fig. 3. (a) E. coli in fresh stool were plated and counted on an EMB plate (each dot represents a mouse). (b) The Pearson correlation curve between the γδT-17 cell number and the E. coli load. (c) Abx-pretreated mice continued on Abx (Abx) or untreated (Abx-pretreatment) water, and then the Abx-pretreated mice were intragastrically administered vehicle, 10⁸ c.f.u. E. coli, 10⁹ c.f.u. E. coli, 10¹⁰ c.f.u. E. coli or 10 mg fresh faeces (Faeces). E. coli and faeces were from normal mice. The stool E. coli load (3 days post transfer) and hepatic γδT-17 cell numbers (3 weeks post transfer) were detected (n=5, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, 7; from left to right). The data are representative of three independent experiments. The mean±s.e.m. is shown (*P<0.05; **P<0.01 one-way ANOVA with post hoc test).