Figure 1.

Fut‐deficient mice have increased cell recruitment and inflammation upon NTHI instillation. Colony‐forming units (1 × 10⁶) of NTHI were instilled intratracheally into WT, Fut7^−/−, and Fut4^−/−Fut7^−/− mice. The BALF was collected 4 and 18 h after instillation by flushing twice with 800 μl PBS. (A) Total immune cells were counted by cell counter immediately after hypotonic lysis of erythrocytes. (B) Total neutrophil counts were determined by flow cytometric staining with anti‐CD11b and anti‐Ly6G Abs and multiplying percentages by the total counts in (A). Images of H&E‐stained lung sections of WT (C), Fut7^−/− (D), and Fut4^−/−Fut7^−/− (E) animals treated with NTHI. Magnification, ×40 and ×200 (inset). Overall, neutrophil recruitment was greater in Fut7^−/− and Fut4^−/−Fut7^−/− compared with WT mice (n = 8 mice for each subgroup). Scale bar, 100 μm. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.005 vs. WT.