fig1

Figure 1. Hepatocytes specific Smad4 knockout mice were susceptible to bacterial infection.
(A) Kaplan-Meier survival curve of Smad4^fl/fl; Alb-cre (LKO) mice (n = 7) and respective controls mice (n = 6) following an i.p. injection of E. coli; (B) Kaplan-Meier survival curve of Smad4^fl/fl; Alb-cre (LKO) mice (n = 5) and respective controls mice (n = 5) following an i.p. injection of S. aureus; (C) The serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the control and LKO mice were measured post E. coli infection by ELISA (n = 5 per group); (D) Fluorescence microscopy and respective quantification of liver tissues of control and LKO mice infected with GFP-labeled E. coli; (E) Bacterial CFU counts were measured in the peritoneal fluid, blood and liver of control (n = 5) and LKO mice (n = 5) 12 h after an i.p. injection of E. coli; (F) Representative hematoxylin and eosin staining of histological sections of liver tissue in control and LKO mice 12 h postinfection; (G) Serum ALT and AST levels of control (n = 5) and LKO mice (n = 5) were measured 12 h postinfection; (H) Kaplan-Meier survival curve of IDD Smad4^fl/fl; Alb-cre (LKO) mice (n = 6) and respective controls mice (n = 5) following an i.p. injection of E. coli; (I) Bacterial CFU counts were measured in the peritoneal fluid, blood and liver of control (n = 5) and IDD-LKO mice (n = 5) 12 h after an i.p. injection of E. coli; (J) Serum ALT and AST levels of control (n = 4) and IDD-LKO mice (n = 4) were measured 12 h postinfection. Circles correspond to individual mouse. Results are represented as mean ± SD. P values in (A, B and H) were determined using log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test. The P values in (C, E, I and J) were determined using unpaired Student’s t-tests. The P values in (G) were determined using two-way ANOVA. ^*P < 0.05; ^**P < 0.01; ^***P < 0.001. NS: Not significant; E. coli: Escherichia coli; S. aureus: Staphylococcus aureus; LKO: liver-specific Smad4 knockout; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor alpha; IL-6: interleukin-6; ELISA: Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; GFP: green fluorescent protein; CFU: colony forming unit; HE: hematoxylin and eosin; PL: peritoneal lavage; ALT: alanine transaminase; AST: aspartate transaminase; IDD: iron-deficient diet.