To find out the mechanism by which reelin protects the colon from pathology, we examined the effect of reelin on p53 expression and activation in the distal colon of both wild-type and reeler (deficient in reelin) mice, which were either untreated (control group) or treated with DSS for 9 days (DSS group) to induce acute colitis. The gene discussed is TP53; the disease is colitis.