Effects of TNFR1 deletion on Il10-/- mouse colitis in early life

The loss of TNFR1 (Tnfrsf1a) in the Il10-/- spontaneous mouse colitis background results in acceleration of disease onset. Whereas Il10-/- mice on the Bl/6 background are relatively protected from colitis throughout life, Il10-/- Tnfr1-/- mice develop colitis beginning at 4 wks of age. Their disease results in nearly 50% mortality by 12 wks of age. We hypothesized that this early-onset colitis was due to dysregulation of immune signals in early life, defining a key period known as the "weaning reaction" in which proinflammatory signals help induce mucosal tolerance of the microbiome. To test this hypothesis, we profiled, using mRNA-Seq, the colonic transcriptomes from Il10-/- and Il10-/- Tnfr1-/- mice at 2 wks of age. The results presented here show that Il10-/- Tnfr1-/- mice have reduced expression of cytokines at this early age, suggesting that they cannot amount an appropriate immune response. Thus, TNFR1 plays an important role in the weaning reaction and the acquisition of tolerance. A total of 12 samples were analyzed. Each sample is composed of total RNA isolated from the full-thickness colon of a 2-wk-old mice. Six Il10-/- and six Il10-/- Tnfr1-/- mice were profiled.