Rab11FIP1-Deficient Mice Develop Spontaneous Inflammation and Show Increased Susceptibility to Colon Damage

We hypothesized that deficiency of Rab11-FIP1 would affect mucosal integrity in the intestine and generated global Rab11FIP1 knockout (KO) mice. Transcription signatures indicated that Rab11FIP1 deletion downregulated genes that mediate stress tolerance response, while genes mediating the response to infection were significantly upregulated, consistent with the inflammatory responses in the steady state. These findings suggest that Rab11FIP1 is important for cytoprotection mechanisms and for the maintenance of colonic mucosal integrity. Comparative gene expression profiling analysis of RNA-seq data for isolated colonic epithelial cells was compared between proximal and distal colons from Rab11FIP1KO, Rab11FIP2KO, and BL6J wild type mice.