Skip to main content
. 2014 Oct 29;9(10):e111375. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111375

Figure 6. Uropathogenic E. coli strain NU14 adheres to HUCs.

Figure 6

HUCs were exposed to NU14 (A), the isogenic fimH mutant NU14-1 (B) or media alone (C). After 2 h, the HUCs were washed and stained for the presence of adherent bacteria (green). Host cell actin (red) and nuclei (blue) were counterstained. Merged images show NU14 (A, arrows) adhering to urothelial cells. The percentage of urothelial cells with adherent bacteria was quantified (D) by scoring at least 200 urothelial cells from random fields of view for the presence of adherent bacteria. The percentage represents the number of urothelial cells with adherent bacteria divided by the total number of urothelial cells examined. Data are representative of at least three (A–C) or two (D) independent experiments performed with cells derived from independent biopsies. Between experiments, the average percentage of urothelial cells with adherent NU14 ranged from 8 to 23%. The errors bars represent the standard deviation of two coverslips per strain per experiment. Scale bars, 10 µm. *Indicates p<0.05, Student’s t-test.