Fig 3.

Induction of IL-8 mRNA expression in IECs. A comparative analysis of mRNA induction of IL-8 in epithelial Caco-2 cells by various L. rhamnosus GG strains (10⁸ CFU/ml) or purified recombinant SpaC pilin protein (2 μg/ml) and isolated L. rhamnosus GG EPS molecules (2 μg/ml) or LTA (1 μg/ml) was performed by TaqMan qRT-PCR. Included as positive controls were S. Typhimurium SL1344 cells (10⁸ CFU/ml) and purified S. Typhimurium flagellin (3 μg/ml). DMEM served as the negative control. The presented data are the average of four independent experiments, and standard deviations are indicated. Data are expressed as means ± standard deviations, and the data set comparisons (mutant strains and isolated compounds versus the LGG wild type) considered significant (P < 0.05) (see Materials and Methods) are indicated with an asterisk (double asterisks indicate increased induction compared to LGG WT).