Figure 5.

The cortisol-binding capacity of CBG in human serum is not disrupted by culture media from LasB-deficient P. aeruginosa. Human serum (1 μl) was incubated with 90 μl of 5-fold concentrated conditioned media from 2 LasB-deficient clones (ie, PW7302 and PW7303) of P. aeruginosa and from the parental PAO1 strain. No loss of cortisol-binding activity was observed with the 2 LasB-deficient clones, confirming the main role of LasB in the disruption of CBG cortisol-binding capacity. All incubations were performed in triplicate and data are presented as mean percentage ± SD of the steroid-binding capacity relative to serum control diluted in 5-fold concentrated bacterial culture media.