Recombinant adeno-associated virus carrying thymosin β4 suppresses experimental colitis in mice

Figure 1 Intracolonic administration of adeno-associated virus carrying thymosin β₄ mediated secretory expression of thymosin β₄ in mouse colons. Two weeks after intracolonic (ic) adeno-associated virus (AAV)-LacZ, AAV-thymosin β₄ (Tβ₄) or PBS, the mice were euthanized to harvest their colons. A: Real-time PCR showed the presence of viral DNA in the colonic tissues of the AAV-treated mice; B: X-gal staining verified AAV-mediated expression of LacZ in the colonic tissues. C: Immunohistochemistry revealed that ic AAV-Tβ₄ resulted in markedly increased expression of Tβ₄ in the mouse colon; D: In the mice with experimental colitis, Western blot showed that dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) treatment remarkably upregulated the colonic Tβ₄ expression while TNBS enemas only slightly increased colonic Tβ₄. Intracolonic AAV-Tβ₄ led to substantially increased expression of Tβ₄ in the colonic tissues in both DSS- and TNBS-treated mice. Error bars indicate SD. Scale bars = 50 μm.