FIG. 7.
Vegetation formation on rabbit heart valve tissue by E. faecalis OG1SSp containing pINY1801 and demonstration of in vivo expression of Asc10. A typical vegetation formation on the rabbit aortic valve is shown in panel A. The arrowhead indicates the vegetation located within one of the aortic valves. Panels B and C (magnification, ×40) and D and E (magnification, ×200) represent consecutive 5-μm sections of a vegetation stained with preimmune serum (B and D) and AS44–331-immune serum (C and E). The secondary antibody was anti-rabbit horseradish peroxidase conjugate, and sections were developed with 3,3-diaminobenzidine as chromogen (brown color). Regions of the vegetation are identified as follows: a mass of E. faecalis cells (1) bordered by an influx of immune cells (2) and surrounded by a platelet/fibrin layer (3). Slides were counterstained with hematoxlyin.