Figure 1.

Exposure of human cells to Gardnerella VLY leads to a release of intracellular contents from RBCs and cervical epithelial cells. A, Coomassie blue SDS-PAGE gel showing recombinant purified VLY and a parallel control preparation using cells containing the empty expression vector. B, Cytolytic activity of VLY against human RBCs determined by heme release (detected as absorbance at 545 nm). The EC₅₀ was calculated using a 4-parameter nonlinear regression model. The data are a combination of 3 independent experiments, with 3 biological replicates per experiment. C, Cytolytic activity of VLY against HeLa cells determined by LDH release. The EC₅₀ was calculated using a 4-parameter nonlinear regression model. Data are a combination of 2 independent experiments, with 3 to 4 biological replicates per experiment. B and C, error bars represent standard deviation. Abbreviations: Abs, absorbance; EC₅₀, 50% maximum effective concentration; LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; RBC, red blood cell; SDS-PAGE, sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; VLY, vaginolysin.