I:10.1371/journal.pone.0057085.gwere 6 to 8 weeks old and housed in specific

I:10.1371/journal.pone.0057085.gwere 6 to 8 weeks old and housed in specific pathogen ree conditions with autoclaved food and bedding in individually ventilated filter cages. All studies were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Yale University. All the monoclonal antibodies used in this study were purchased from BioLegend (San Diego, CA) or eBioscience (San Diego, CA).Intestinal Permeability AssayTo determine intestinal permeability, mice were gavaged with FITC-dextran (Sigma) in PBS at 6 mg/g body weight. Peripheral blood samples were collected 4 hrs after gavage. After 1:2 dilution, circulating FITC-dextran was measured by fluorescence spectrophotometry (PerkinElmer 1420 Multilabel Counter plate reader) at the excitation wavelength of 485 nm and emission wave length of 535 nm. The concentration of FITC-dextran was calculated according to the standard curve in which diluted normal mouse serum was mixed with known concentrations of FITC-dextran.Alcohol TreatmentMice were treated with 10 ethanol in drinking water for 7 days and gavaged with 200 ml 60 ethanol (6 g/kg) on day 7. Mice were sacrificed 16 hours after gavage. The control mice were given normal water and gavaged with 200 ml water on day 7.Endotoxin LAL AssayLPS level in serum was tested using chromogenic endotoxin LAL assay kit (GeneScript) according to the manufacturer’s instructions.Isolation of Liver Mononuclear CellsMouse liver was first perfused with PBS via the portal vein and the liver tissue was then ground between two single frosted slides to obtain a single cell suspension. Liver mononuclear cells (LMNCs) were harvested at the interface of a 40 and 80 Percoll gradient (GE Healthcare, Piscataway, NJ) after discontinuous gradient centrifugation. Residual red blood cells (RBC) were lysed with RBC lysis buffer (eBiosience, San Diego, CA). The LMNCs were then washed twice with PBS.Analysis of Culturable Bacteria in 15755315 Mouse FecesFresh feces from the mice used in this study were collected and weighed. The same amount of feces was resuspended in 500 ml sterile PBS and vortexed thoroughly. 100 ml from each diluted sample was spread on LB and blood agar plates Eliglustat followed by incubation at 37uC in for 24 hrs. For culturable anaerobic bacteria, the plates were placed in GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System (BD, Sparks, MD) and incubated for 48 hrs. Bacterial colonies were counted from each plate. This assay was performed in duplicate for each sample and the data are presented as the number of culturable bacterial colonies per mg feces.Phagocytosis AssayFITC-dextran (mw 40,000, Sigma) was used as a phagocytic tracker in the phagocytosis assay. LMNCs were incubated with 1 mg/ml FITC-dextran at 37uC (binding and uptake) or 4uC (non-specific binding) for 1 hr in culture medium. After washing, the cells were stained with different fluorochrome-conjugated mAbs and phagocytic capacity of LMNCs was examined by FITC-dextran uptake using flow cytometry.Ratios of Gram-positive (G+) and Gram-negative (G2) Bacteria in FecesBacterial DNA of mouse feces was isolated as previously described [28] with some modification. Briefly, the collected feces sample was resuspended in 300 ml TE and then 5 freeze-thaw cycles were carried out. 70 ml INK1197 web lysozyme (200 mg/ml, Sigma) was added followed by a 3-hour incubation at 37uC. 20 ml SDS (10 ) and 2 ml Proteinase K (20 mg/ml) were then added and the samples incubated for an additional hour at 37uC. The samples were further incubated fo.I:10.1371/journal.pone.0057085.gwere 6 to 8 weeks old and housed in specific pathogen ree conditions with autoclaved food and bedding in individually ventilated filter cages. All studies were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Yale University. All the monoclonal antibodies used in this study were purchased from BioLegend (San Diego, CA) or eBioscience (San Diego, CA).Intestinal Permeability AssayTo determine intestinal permeability, mice were gavaged with FITC-dextran (Sigma) in PBS at 6 mg/g body weight. Peripheral blood samples were collected 4 hrs after gavage. After 1:2 dilution, circulating FITC-dextran was measured by fluorescence spectrophotometry (PerkinElmer 1420 Multilabel Counter plate reader) at the excitation wavelength of 485 nm and emission wave length of 535 nm. The concentration of FITC-dextran was calculated according to the standard curve in which diluted normal mouse serum was mixed with known concentrations of FITC-dextran.Alcohol TreatmentMice were treated with 10 ethanol in drinking water for 7 days and gavaged with 200 ml 60 ethanol (6 g/kg) on day 7. Mice were sacrificed 16 hours after gavage. The control mice were given normal water and gavaged with 200 ml water on day 7.Endotoxin LAL AssayLPS level in serum was tested using chromogenic endotoxin LAL assay kit (GeneScript) according to the manufacturer’s instructions.Isolation of Liver Mononuclear CellsMouse liver was first perfused with PBS via the portal vein and the liver tissue was then ground between two single frosted slides to obtain a single cell suspension. Liver mononuclear cells (LMNCs) were harvested at the interface of a 40 and 80 Percoll gradient (GE Healthcare, Piscataway, NJ) after discontinuous gradient centrifugation. Residual red blood cells (RBC) were lysed with RBC lysis buffer (eBiosience, San Diego, CA). The LMNCs were then washed twice with PBS.Analysis of Culturable Bacteria in 15755315 Mouse FecesFresh feces from the mice used in this study were collected and weighed. The same amount of feces was resuspended in 500 ml sterile PBS and vortexed thoroughly. 100 ml from each diluted sample was spread on LB and blood agar plates followed by incubation at 37uC in for 24 hrs. For culturable anaerobic bacteria, the plates were placed in GasPak EZ Anaerobe Container System (BD, Sparks, MD) and incubated for 48 hrs. Bacterial colonies were counted from each plate. This assay was performed in duplicate for each sample and the data are presented as the number of culturable bacterial colonies per mg feces.Phagocytosis AssayFITC-dextran (mw 40,000, Sigma) was used as a phagocytic tracker in the phagocytosis assay. LMNCs were incubated with 1 mg/ml FITC-dextran at 37uC (binding and uptake) or 4uC (non-specific binding) for 1 hr in culture medium. After washing, the cells were stained with different fluorochrome-conjugated mAbs and phagocytic capacity of LMNCs was examined by FITC-dextran uptake using flow cytometry.Ratios of Gram-positive (G+) and Gram-negative (G2) Bacteria in FecesBacterial DNA of mouse feces was isolated as previously described [28] with some modification. Briefly, the collected feces sample was resuspended in 300 ml TE and then 5 freeze-thaw cycles were carried out. 70 ml lysozyme (200 mg/ml, Sigma) was added followed by a 3-hour incubation at 37uC. 20 ml SDS (10 ) and 2 ml Proteinase K (20 mg/ml) were then added and the samples incubated for an additional hour at 37uC. The samples were further incubated fo.