Figure 1.

MCL1 is essential for maintaining intestinal homeostasis. (A) Mcl1^ΔIEC mice show reduced weight gain (n = 50) and survival (n = 126) compared with littermate controls (n = 34 and n = 61, respectively). Representative colonoscopy images from 4-month-old mice. (B) Two-month-old Mcl1^ΔIEC mice display increased serum levels of FITC dextran (n = 13) compared with littermate controls (n = 8) 4 hours after oral administration. (C) Calprotectin (S100A8/S100A9) levels of 2-month-old Mcl1^ΔIEC mice and age-matched controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (n = 6 Mcl1^ΔIEC mice, n = 9 wild type) or real-time polymerase chain reaction (n = 8 Mcl1^ΔIEC mice, n = 5 wild type). (D) Representative images illustrating Mcl1 expression in the colon (red stain) as demonstrated using in situ hybridization (scale bars: 100 μm). (E) Representative images from the colon of two-month-old Mcl1^ΔIEC mice compared with age-matched controls (scale bars: 100 μm , 25 μm-inserts). (F) Blinded histological scores comparing the colon of 2-month-old Mcl1^ΔIEC mice with littermate controls (n = 5). (G) Colon cultures established from 2-month-old mice and analyzed using multiplex analysis (minimum n = 10 per group). Data presented as either bar charts or scatter plot graph show mean values ± SEM. Statistical analyses were conducted by 1-way analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction (A [body weight], G), log rank (Mantel-Cox test) (A, survival), Student t test (B and C), or Mann-Whitney test (F), where ∗P ≤ .05, ∗∗P ≤ .01, ∗∗∗P ≤ .001.