FIG. 6.

Heparinase treatment reduces H. somnus adherence to BBEC. Adhesion of H. somnus to BBEC was evaluated following a 1-h incubation with 1 U/ml heparinase at 37°C to enzymatically digest HSPG. BBEC incubated with 1 mM heparin were included as a control for inhibition of bacterial adhesion. Approximately 30 H. somnus CFU were added per endothelial cell. The cells were then incubated for 4 h at 37°C and washed five times with PBS. The endothelial cells were lysed, and the adherent bacteria were enumerated by plating BBEC lysates on sheep blood agar plates. Data represent the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments. **, P < 0.01.