Colonization of IL-10 Deficient Mice with C. jejuni

Viable C. jejuni strain 81-176 bacteria stored at −80 °C were thawed, streaked out, and incubated on selective karmali agar plates (purchased from Oxoid, Wesel, Germany) at 37 °C for 48 h under micro-aerophilic conditions. In order to generate an inoculum of 10⁹ bacterial cells, bacteria were harvested in sterile PBS (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA). Age- and sex-matched human-gut-microbiota-associated IL-10^−/− mice (3-month-old littermates) were then infected perorally with 10⁹ colony forming units (CFU) of the pathogen on two consecutive days (i.e., on days 0 and 1; Figure 1) by gavage as stated in detail elsewhere [57 (link)].