Figure 5.

The internalization of pEXI by HeLa-CGM1a cells. pGEM, pEXA, and pEXI at OD₅₄₀ = 0.04 were incubated with HeLa-CGM1a cells in RPMI 1640 medium for 6 h. Unbound cells were removed by replacing the supernatants with fresh RPMI medium 1640 (1 ml per well per wash) at 3-h intervals. The adherent and intracellular E. coli were distinguished by incubation with gentamicin. Only pEXI were recovered in large numbers following gentamicin treatment, although both pEXA and pEXI adhered to the HeLa-CGM1a.