Fig. 3.

Participation of the fibronectin-binding molecules of S. apiospermum in the interaction with target host cells (epithelial and fibroblast lung cells). Conidia were incubated in the presence or absence of soluble human fibronectin at different concentrations (100–400 μg/ml) or with soluble BSA (400 μg/ml) at room temperature for 1 h. Alternatively, lung epithelial and fibroblast cells (A549 and MRC-5 lineages, respectively) were incubated with anti-fibronectin antibody at 1:100, 1:200, and 1:400 dilutions or with irrelevant IgG (1:400) for 1 h at 37 °C in an atmosphere with 5% CO₂. Posteriorly, fungi and lung cells were placed to interact in a proportion of 10:1, respectively, for 2 h at 37 °C at 5% CO₂. After the interaction period, the systems were washed and stained with Giemsa for subsequent determination of association indexes. The symbols indicate the experimental systems considered statistically significant from the control (P < 0.05; Student’s t-test)