FIGURE 5.

RBC nanosponges reduce GAS disease severity in necrotizing skin infection model. Invasive WT SLO-producing GAS strain subcutaneously into flanks of WT C57bl6 mice and mice were subsequently treated in the proximal tissues with either vehicle only control or vehicle + 50 mg/kg of RBC nanosponges (15 min post-infection). (A) At 72 h post-infection, necrotic skin lesions in the nanosponge-treated group were significantly smaller than those in the control group. (B) Quantitative bacterial cultures showed nanosponge-treated mice had significantly fewer GAS CFU recovered from wound tissue. (C) Representative histopathologic analysis of lesion biopsies showing reduced necrotic tissue injury in nanosponge-treated mice. (D) Levels of proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β produced in skin tissues in GAS-infected mice upon nanosponge administration. Statistical analyses performed using unpaired Student’s t-test. Results are shown as ±SEM.