Figure 5.

The M1/T1 group A Streptococcus pilus subunits activate TLR2/TLR6 heterodimers. (a) HEK‐Blue hTLR2/hTLR6 cells or (b) HEK‐Blue hTLR2/hTLR1 cells were incubated overnight with rBP or rAP1, positive control (1 μg mL⁻¹ Pam2CSK4 for TLR2/6, or 1 μg mL⁻¹ Pam3CSK4 for TLR2/1) or left untreated. Levels of TLR activation were determined by absorbance at 655 nm. Experiments were performed in duplicates and data are shown as mean ± s.d. One representative of three independently performed experiments is shown. Statistical significance was determined by one‐way ANOVA, and P‐values were calculated by Holm–Šídák’s multiple comparisons test. *P ≤ 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01, ***P < 0.001 compared with the negative control. AP, ancillary pilin; BP, backbone pilin; ns, not significant; s.d., standard deviation; TLR, Toll‐like receptor.