FIG 7 .
Addition of exogenous HB-EGF increases the numbers of viable intracellular N. gonorrhoeae ΔpilT and pilTL201C cells. CFU counts of gentamicin-protected cells from cultures infected for 4 h with wt, ΔpilT, or pilTL201C cells and treated with HB-EGF at 3 h postinfection. Values were normalized to CFU counts from mock-treated, similarly infected samples and are expressed as percentages of the wt value. Values are the average results from 6 independent experiments. *, P < 0.05, and **, P < 0.01, Student’s two-tailed paired t test.