Fig. 6.

Vn is functionally active and inhibits the terminal pathway when bound to the surface of Ye. a Histogram overlay of flow cytometry analyses of TCC formation (detected by formation of the neoepitope C5b-9) on the surface of Ye O:9 E40 WT after preincubation of bacteria with PBS or different concentrations of Vn in PBS (10, 25 and 50 µg/ml). Preincubation with Vn reduces the amount of TCC that is formed. b Bar chart depicting C5b-9 deposition as percent of the amount of C5b-9 that was formed on the surface of bacteria preincubated with PBS only compared to bacteria preincubated with either Vn or C4BP at different concentrations (10, 25 and 50 µg/ml). Vn, but not C4BP, is able to reduce the formation of C5b-9. Antibody (Ab) control indicates background signal that was obtained using secondary antibody only for detection. Data are means ± SD of at least 3 individual experiments. The main p value was determined by one-way ANOVA (b: p < 0.001). Multiple comparisons were performed by one-way ANOVA with Dunnett's multiple-comparisons test. The error bars denote the SD. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.