Fig 5. IL-27 blockade reduces IL-10 production within the nasal tissue and improves bacterial clearance from the nose during S. aureus colonisation.
WT and IL-10-/- mice were intranasally administered with PBS, αIL-27 (150μg/mouse) or isotype control (150μg/mouse) 24h prior to colonisation. Mice were then colonised with S. aureus Newman SmR (2 × 108 CFU/nose) in combination with αIL-27 (150μg/mouse) or isotype control (150μg/mouse). At 24h post-colonisation, NT of WT mice was homogenized in PBS and protein levels of IL-10 (A) were determined by ELISA. Values are expressed as mean protein concentration ±s.e.m. (Experimental unit = 1 mouse, n = 10 per group, total # animals used 30, data generated from 3 independent experiments). At Day 3 (B) and Day 7 (C) post-colonisation WT and IL-10-/- mice were culled and noses excised. Noses were homogenized and serial dilutions of homogenates were plated onto streptomycin-supplemented TSA plates. Plates were grown overnight and CFUs were enumerated. Results are expressed as CFU/nose (Experimental unit = 1 mouse, n = 10 per group, total # animals used 40, data generated from 3 independent experiments) (B) and (Experimenal unit = 1 mouse, n = 5 per group, total # animals used 20, data generated from 2 independent experiments) (C). Statistical analysis was performed using one way analysis of variance or student t test. *P≤0.05; **P≤0.01, *** P≤0.001.