Figure 3.

Cnm promotes binding to ECM proteins and invasion of endothelial cells. (A and B) Binding of bacterial cells to extracellular matrix proteins: (A) collagen type I and (B) laminin. (C) Inhibition of binding to collagen type I by anti-rCnmA antibody (1:20). (D) HCAEC invasion assay showing the normalized percentage of invasion for each strain after 3 h of co-incubation (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.0001, ANOVA followed by Tukey's post-test). The S. mutans OMZ175 (Cnm⁺) strain was used as a positive control in all assays. The symbols “+” and “−“ in the graphs denote induction or no induction with nisin, respectively.