FIG. 3.

Inhibition of S. aureus invasion. HCEC monolayers were incubated for 1 h in the presence of inhibitors. Monolayers were incubated for an additional 1 h in the presence of inhibitors and wild-type S. aureus. Monolayers were washed, and extracellular bacteria were killed by the addition of gentamicin. Monolayers were homogenized, serially diluted, and plated for enumeration of viable intracellular bacteria. Data represent mean values + standard errors of the means for duplicate experiments, each performed in triplicate. Asterisks indicate statistically significant reductions in internalization (P < 0.05, Student's t test) compared to wild-type internalization.