FIG. 3.

Elevated levels of Ch25h increases susceptibility to L. monocytogenes infection in vivo. Hydrodynamic delivery of the pCS2-CH25H construct led to a 6-fold increase in Ch25h expression in livers (A) and a 3-fold increase in spleens (C) of C57BL/6J mice 48 h after plasmid injection. At 24 h after infection with L. monocytogenes, mice injected with intact transgene had 7-fold higher numbers of bacteria in their livers (B) and similarly higher bacterial loads in their spleens (D) (total of 16 animals per treatment, considering the combined results of five independent experiments, each with 3 or 4 animals per treatment). Histological analysis (E) of tissue sections identified substantially more infectious foci (arrows) in livers of animals injected with the intact transgene than in livers of animals injected with the vehicle or the mutant construct.