FIG. 5.

Effects of protease treatment on susceptibility to PLA2. Bacteria (ClfA⁺; 10⁸ bacteria/ml) were incubated with AF filtrate or AF filtrate plus 270 μg of rabbit fibrinogen/ml for 60 min. Then plasmin (100 μg/ml) was added, and after further incubation for 15 min, PLA2 (1 μg/ml) was added and incubations were continued for an additional 30, 60, or 90 min. CFU and phospholipid hydrolysis were assessed as described in Materials and Methods. Results shown are means ± SEMs of at least three independent determinations. CFU are expressed as percentages of the CFU in the initial inoculum.