CLP procedure was performed (38 (link)) on mice that were anesthetized with ketamine/xylazine (University of Iowa, Office of Animal Resources). Briefly, the abdomen was shaved and disinfected with Betadine (Purdue Products), and a midline incision was made. The distal third of the cecum was ligated with Perma-Hand Silk (Ethicon), punctured once (“moderate”) or twice (“severe”) using a 25-gauge needle, and a small amount of fecal matter extruded. The cecum was returned to abdomen, the peritoneum was closed with 641G Perma-Hand Silk (Ethicon), and skin sealed using surgical Vetbond (3M). Following surgery, 1 mL PBS was administered s.c. to provide post-surgery fluid resuscitation. Bupivacaine (Hospira) was administered at the incision site, and flunixin meglumine (Phoenix) was administered for postoperative analgesia. This procedure created a septic state characterized by loss of appetite and body weight, ruffled hair, shivering, diarrhea, and/or periorbital exudates with 0–10% mortality rate, or 25–50% mortality for moderate and severe sepsis, respectively, similar to our previous reports (39 (link)). Sham mice underwent identical surgery excluding cecal ligation and puncture. Removal of punctured cecum as source control is not attempted here due to the short duration of the experiments - most mice were analyzed/sacrificed in the first 2–4 days post CLP surgery.