Figure 6.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm delays healing in WT mice. WT mice were inoculated at wounding with a P. aeruginosa biofilm. (a) Representative images of 3 days postwounding macroscopic and scanning electron microscope images of excisional wounds from normal and P. aeruginosa infected mice. Note the characteristic rod-shaped P. aeruginosa bacterial cells in the host wound tissue (arrows). (b) Representative histological sections illustrate delayed healing in P. aeruginosa biofilm wounds. Arrows denote wound margins. (c–e) Quantification showed significantly delayed healing in the P. aeruginosa group with increased wound area, decreased re-epithelialization, and increased local neutrophil influx at 3 days after wounding. All data are representative of two independent experiments with n = 5 mice/group in a–e. ^∗∗P < 0.001, ^∗P < 0.05. Mean + standard error of the mean. Scale bar in a (left) = 5 mm, scale bar in a (right) = 150 nm, scale bar in b = 200 μm. WT, wild type.