intestine (proximal, middle, and distal) and colon, or in case of
wounding/colitis experiments, only the colon was removed. The intestines were
flushed with phosphate-buffered saline, opened longitudinally using a gut
preparation apparatus, and fixed overnight in 10% neutral buffered formalin
(Merck, Readington, NJ). The tissues were then embedded in paraffin and
sectioned at 4 μm using a microtome (Leica, Buffalo
Grove, IL) with diethylpyrocarbonate-treated water (Merck) in the water
bath.
To find the ulcers generated by biopsy wounding, the entire tissue block
was sectioned, and 4 serial sections collected, followed by a
50-μm trim (discarded), throughout the block.
H&E staining was performed on 1 of 4 sections of each series following
standard procedures, leaving 3 blank slides per series for other stains. The
mid-ulcer series of sections was determined for all ulcers by identifying their
range within the entire set of H&E slides per block. For whole-mount
scanning, colons were washed with cold phosphate-buffered saline, whole-mounted,
and fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde for 3 hours at room temperature. In situ
hybridization, immunohistochemistry, multiplex, and whole-mount staining were
completed using standard techniques described in detail in the
Methods