Investigation of Host and Pathogen Contributions to Infectious Colitis Using the Citrobacter rodentium Mouse Model of Infection.

Abstract

Citrobacter rodentium is used as a model organism to study enteric bacterial infections in mice. Infection occurs via the oral-fecal route and results in the pathogen forming attaching and effacing lesions on infected epithelial cells. Moreover, infection leads to a subsequent host-mediated form of colitis. C. rodentium infection is thus an excellent model to study infectious colitis in vivo, while the ability to genetically manipulate C. rodentium virulence genes provides the opportunity to develop clear insights into the pathogenesis of this and related infectious microbes. This chapter outlines the basic techniques involved in setting up a C. rodentium infection in mice and several different methodologies to assess the severity of the infection.