FIG 5.

tPA coating reduces S. aureus biofilm formation in vivo. (A) The buffer-treated and tPA-coated coverslips were infected with S. aureus LS-1 for 2 h and washed with PBS and then implanted subcutaneously into both flanks of NMRI mice (n = 8). The coverslips were collected 3 days after implantation. The bacterial loads on the coverslips were analyzed as CFU counts. The buffer-treated and tPA-coated coverslips were infected with S. aureus LS-1 for 4 h and implanted subcutaneously into both flanks of NMRI mice (B and C). Mice were either not treated (n = 18) (B) or treated with cloxacillin (n = 13) twice a day starting at 12 h after implantation (C). On day 3, the coverslips were collected to analyze the bacterial loads (CFU counts) on the implant surfaces. Data are presented as dot plots (panels A and B) or medians (center lines), interquartile ranges (boxes), and 80% central ranges (whiskers) (C). The Wilcoxon matched-pair signed-rank test was used.