Fig 8.

Evaluation of internalization (A) and persistence (B) of the MRSA strain 1158c into MAC-T cells after exposure to the 2.6 kDa chitosan used at different concentrations. In A, MAC-T cells were exposed to bacteria and chitosan for a period of 3h. Cell cultures were then supplemented by lysostaphin to lyse extracellular bacteria, which are then removed, together with chitosan, through washing before provoking MAC-T cell lysis for determination of the number of intracellular bacteria at 3 h. In B, instead of lysing the MAC-T cells at 3 h, the number of persisting intracellular bacteria was determined at 24 h. Data were obtained from three independent experiments. Significant differences in comparison to the untreated control (0 mg/ml) are shown. Statistical analysis was performed using one way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparison: *, P<0.05.