Fig. 5.

F. tularensis induces caspase 3 activation in the late stage of infection of hMDMs. (A) Representative confocal laser scanning microscopy images of hMDMs infected with the wt strain or the iglC mutant. The activation of caspase 3 (C3) and TUNEL were determined at 1, 6 and 24 h post-infection. (B) Quantitative analysis of C3 activation in C1 inhibited cells stained for cell death. Approximately 100 macrophages were analysed by confocal microscopy from different coverslips. The data are representative of three independent experiments and error bars represent standard deviations. The asterisks represent statistically significant difference.