In Vivo Models of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Colitis-Associated Cancer.

A single layer of epithelial cells separates luminal antigens from the host immune system throughout the gastrointestinal tract. A breakdown in the integrity of the epithelial barrier can lead to chronic inflammation, which is associated with numerous complications including cancer. Here we describe three experimental protocols to chemically induce acute and chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) symptoms and colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. These in vivo mouse models are based on the induction of damage to the colonic epithelium, resulting in an inflammatory and wound healing response. In addition, we outline colonoscopy procedures to monitor the onset of disease in individual live mice.