Figure 8. Bcl-3 deficiency impairs bacterial killing in neutrophils.

Neutrophils were collected from the bone marrow of non-infected wild-type (WT) or Bcl3 deficient (Bcl-3 KO) mice and incubated at 37°C for 1 h with K. pneumoniae. Cells were then washed with buffer containing Gentamicin to remove extracellular bacteria, and were lysed at various time points after washing (t=0 for reference, t=30 min and t=60 min). Live intracellular K. pneumoniae was quantified by culture. Bacterial uptake was assessed at the time point t=0 (A). Killing was calculated from the percentage of colonies present at t=30 min or t=60 min compared to t=0 (i.e. 100-(number of CFU_t=30 / number of CFU_t=0) (B). The result shown here is a combination of two independent experiments in duplicates with a total of 7 WT mice and 10 Bcl-3 KO mice. * P < 0.01 between WT (open rectangles) and Bcl-3 KO mice (filled rectangles).