Sildenafil protects the intestinal epithelium from DSS-induced damage. Sildenafil protects the intestinal epithelium from DSS-induced damage. A, Immunoblot shows phosphorylation of the PKG substrate vasodilator stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP-P) in colon mucosa from control and sildenafil treated groups. β-Actin is a loading control. Right, quantitation of densitometric data from blots shown on the left. B, Mucus staining (AB/PAS) of colon sections from untreated (Ctrl) and sildenafil treated mice (Sild) for 7 days. Histogram showing percentage of total AB/PAS-positive staining area. C, Ki67 staining for proliferation in colons from Ctrl and 7-day Sild-treated mice. Histogram shows percent Ki67-positive staining cells per crypt. D, Barrier permeability assessed with FITC-dextran in mice treated with 3% DSS for 5 days with or without sildenafil treatment. E, DAI in mice treated with 3% DSS for 5 days with or without sildenafil treatment. A–E,n = 3 mice per group. Scale bars in B and C, 50 μm. Bianca N. Islam et al. Cancer Prev Res 2017;10:377-388 ©2017 by American Association for Cancer Research