FIG 5 .

Gonococcal suppression of the oxidative burst occurs downstream of protein kinase C activation. PMNs were infected with gonococci in the presence of luminol, and LDCL increase was monitored over the course of 90 min. (A) PMNs treated with DPI (black bars) or PMA (gray bars). Opaless P⁺ or OpaD⁺ gonococci were titrated over a range of MOIs (Opaless, 1, 14, and 67; OpaD⁺ strain, 5, 9, and 47), moving left to right on the x axis, as indicated by the triangles underneath the axis. (B) PMNs were treated with fMLF, in combination with gonococcal infection. Opaless P⁺ or OpaD⁺ gonococci were titrated over a range of MOIs (Opaless, 1, 10, 50; OpaD⁺ strain, 2, 16, 80), moving left to right on the x axis, represented by the triangles underneath the axis. (C and D) The effect of CEACAM-binding peptide rD-7 on oxidative burst and NET formation was assessed by LDCL (C) and counting the number of NETs in each ×400 magnification field (D) (see Materials and Methods). All data are a representative experiment from at least three independent experiments using PMNs from at least 3 individual donors.