Dextran sulfate sodium (dss)

DSS was purchased from Yuanye Bio-Technology Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China). DOX was purchased from Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd (Zhejiang, China). Other chemical reagents needed in this experiment were purchased from Sigma Co., Ltd. (MO, USA).

The UC model was induced by intragastric administration [24 (link), 25 (link)] using 5% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS, Shanghai Yuanye Bio-Technology Co., Ltd.) dissolved in distilled water (3.5 ml/100 g) for 14 consecutive days, while the controls were treated with distilled water (3.5 ml/100 g). To verify the establishment of the UC model, five DSS-treated experimental rats and five control rats were sacrificed to evaluate the changes in colon and rectum lengths, body weights and DAI scores. Then, the remaining DSS-treated rats were randomly divided into the following five groups (n = 5 rats/group): saline treatment (UC group, saline, 300 μl), HGF treatment (LV-HGF group, 300 μl), DPSCs treatment (DPSCs group, 1.0 × 10⁶ cells, 300 μl), green fluorescent protein (GFP)-modified DPSC treatment (GFP-DPSCs group, 1.0 × 10⁶ cells, 300 μl) and HGF-modified DPSCs treatment (HGF-DPSCs group, 1.0 × 10⁶ cells, 300 μl). All treatments were administered by tail vein injections into the rats.

The DSS (MW: 50 kDa) used in this study was purchased from Shanghai Yuanye BioTechnology Co., Ltd. (Shanghai, China). The broilers in the DSS group were gavaged a DSS solution (1 mL, 2.5% weight/volume) at the same time daily from 21 to 29 days of age. The major reason for the selected treatment schedule was due to the fact that broiler enteric inflammation usually occurs between two to six weeks of age. The volume [19 (link)] and concentration [6 (link)] of the DSS solution used in this study partly refer to the previous two studies.