FIGURE 3.

Time-dependent bactericidal effect of serum against K. pneumoniae strains 271 (A), 45 (B) and 358 (C) treated and untreated with a capsule serotype-specific and non-specific depolymerase. Bacteria were grown in 50% NHS or heat inactivated NHS, in the presence or absence of depolymerases for 7 h at 37°C. Serially diluted aliquots were plated on TSA plates. The results were expressed as mean ± SEM. As the survival of Klebsiella strains treated and untreated of a capsule serotype-specific enzyme in the presence of heat inactivated NHS was comparable, so for simplicity, only one of these data has been shown. Asterisks indicate statistically significant differences (^∗P < 0.05, ^∗∗P < 0.001) compared to the initial inoculum. For each option, at least three independent experiments were performed.