Figure 5.

Hla mediates tissue toxicity during Staphylococcus aureus skin infection. Human skin explants were infected with S. aureus USA300 LAC wild type, its isogenic hla mutant, and the complemented strain (compΔhla). (A) Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) released from the skin during infection with S. aureus wild-type and hla mutant LAC USA300 strains. Each bar represents the mean ± SD (N = 3). (B) Colony-forming unit (CFU) of S. aureus recovered 24 and 72 h post-infection. Each bar represents the mean ± SD (N = 3). Statistically significant differences were determined by two-way ANOVA, with Tukey’s multiple comparison tests, *p < 0.05, **p ≤ 0.001, and ****p < 0.0001. Asterisks on bars are comparisons between infected and uninfected groups while lines are the comparison between infected groups.