Fig 4. Epithelial cell adhesion and invasion.

Changes in epithelial cell adhesion and invasion were assessed using adhesion/invasion assays with either Detroit 562 (pharyngeal) or A549 (lung) human epithelial cells. Epithelial cells were incubated with 10⁷ pneumococci and adhered or internalized pneumococci were enumerated on BA. Adhesion to Detroit 562 was not significantly affected by the absence of potD in MNZ67 (A), but adhesion to A549 cells was significantly increased in the absence of potD (B). A significant difference was not observed between MNZ67 and PIP01 when examining Detroit 562 or A549 cell invasion (C and D). All samples were analyzed in triplicate and experiments were performed at least 3 times. Error bars denote standard error of the mean.