CD274 and Sepsis: On the other hand, CLP treatment downregulated the expression of occludin and E-cadherin mRNA in PD-L1 KO mice (Fig. 11A) and protein expression (Fig. 11B, C and Supplemental Fig. S12B), indicating that low occludin and E-cadherin expression is part of the endogenous sepsis response, even in the absence of PD-L1.