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. 2012 Nov 7;7(11):e48394. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048394

Figure 6. Sequence variation and host cell adhesive property of the FHA protein in C. jejuni.

Figure 6

(A) Focused genetic alignment for putative island-like structures in the genomes of C. jejuni ST-4526, NCTC11168, and IA3902. The putative filamentous hemagglutination domain protein (FHA) is indicated with a bold-edge. (B) The FHA protein shows affinity to heparan sulfate in vitro. The tissue culture plates were pre-coated with heparan sulfate (5 µg/well). After washing with PBS, the plates were co-incubated with 100 µg and serial dilutions of recombinant FHA (rFHA) from isolates H_0002 or H_0089. The bound rFHA were solubilized with 0.1% SDS, and the protein concentrations were measured chronometrically using a Bradford assay. (C) The rFHA blocks the adhesion of FHA-positive C. jejuni on Caco-2 cells. The cells were pre-treated with 0, 5, or 20 µg of rFHA derived from H_0002 for 30 min prior to C. jejuni infection. The numbers of cell-associated bacteria were counted after gentle washing with PBS.