Double- and triple-colour fluorescence images were acquired using a Leica microscope. CXCR3 expression was detected on acetone-fixed tissue sections using a polyclonal rabbit

anti-mouse antibody to CXCR3 (0·5 µg/ml final concentration; Zytomed) followed by the tyramide signal amplification (TSA) system with peroxidase-conjugated goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin (Ig) (5 µg/ml; Jackson Immunoresearch) and FITC-tyramide (PerkinElmer Life Sciences, Boston, MA, USA). CD117+ lin- precursor-enriched lamina propria mononuclear cells (lamina propria MCs) were finally isolated subsequently using lineage-marker [negative depletion with antibodies to CD5, CD45R (B220), CD11b, Gr-1 (Ly-6G/C), 7-4 and Ter-119] and c-kit microbeads (positive selection) and MACS techniques (Miltenyi Biotech GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s BIBW2992 molecular weight Selleckchem GS 1101 instructions. Total RNA of isolated precursor cells and bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (bmDCs) was isolated

using TRIzol (Sigma-Aldrich, Hamburg, Germany) according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Reverse transcription into complementary DNA was performed using the Moloney murine leukaemia virus (MMLV) reverse transcriptase (Life Technologies Inc., Carlsbad, CA, USA) method. Chemokine receptor expression was analysed using two multiplex PCR kits (Maxim Biotech, San Francisco, CA, USA) including CCR1-9 and CX3CR1, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Notch 1–4 expression by Arachidonate 15-lipoxygenase IEL precursors and mature IEL was analysed by RT–PCR as described elsewhere [11]. Notch-ligand expression on bmDC was analysed 24 h after incubation with various concentrations of rmMip3a (R&D Systems) by real-time PCR as described elsewhere [11]. For isolation of bmDC, bone marrow was isolated from femur and tibia and erythrocytes were lysed. The remaining cells were plated at a density of 106 per ml in six-well plates in RPMI-1640 (Hyclone, Logan, UT, USA) supplemented with 10% FBS (Hyclone) and containing 10 ng/ml of murine granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and 1 ng/ml of murine IL-4 (Peprotech, Rocky Hill, NJ, USA). The cells were incubated

at 37°C with 5% CO2. After 2 days of culture the cells were washed gently and replaced with RPMI-10 containing the same concentration of GM-CSF and IL-4 for an additional 5 days and semi-adherent cells were harvested for further experiments. For maturation, bmDC were stimulated further with 1 µg/ml LPS for 24 h and incubated with variable concentrations of rmMip3a (R&D Systems). Colitis was induced by addition of 3% DSS (molecular weight 40 000; ICN Biomedicals, Aurora, OH, USA) to drinking water for 7 days. Citrobacter rodentium was grown overnight in Luria–Bertani broth at a concentration of 2·5 × 109/ml. Adult (10-week-old) CCR6 heterozygous mice were infected with 200 µl of the bacterial suspension (5 × 108 bacteria) by oral gavage.