Hematopoetic and nonhematopoetic compartments contribute to increased susceptibility of mut-Stat3 mice to C rodentium. BM chimeras were generated by lethal irradiation of WT and mut-Stat3 mice followed by intravenous injection of 107 WT or mut-Stat3 BM cells. Mice rested for 8 weeks and were then orally challenged with 5 × 109 CFU C rodentium. Mice were assessed for weight loss (A). After 14 days animals were sacrificed and gut histology (B), relative expression of antimicrobial peptide mRNA (C), and CD4+ colonic lamina propria T-cell cytokine expression (D) was measured. Histogram columns represent mean values + standard error of the mean. Data are representative of 2 independent experiments (n = 5 per group, except for IL-22 staining where n = 4 per group). *P < .05; **P < .01.
