The TIR Homologue Lies near Resistance Genes in Staphylococcus aureus, Coupling Modulation of Virulence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility
Fig 5
TirS induces reduced inflammation despite similar bacterial counts in skin lesions.
(A) Bacterial burden in skin lesions of mice infected with S. aureus WT (n = 11) or S. aureus ΔtirS (n = 10) and correlation between bacterial burden and lesion size. Data were obtained 5 and 7 days after inoculation from 2 independent experiments. (B) Levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, CXCL1, MCP1 (pg/ml), and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity (ng/ml) from lesional skin at 7, 8, and 9 days after inoculation. Data were obtained from 16 to 22 mice infected with S. aureus WT or S. aureus ΔtirS from 4 independent experiments (all data shown). (C) Correlation between levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17, CXCL1, MCP1, MPO, and lesion size from lesional skin at 7, 8, and 9 days after inoculation. Data were obtained from 16 to 22 mice infected with S. aureus WT or S. aureus ΔtirS from 4 independent experiments (all data shown). Each symbol represents an animal and the median values are marked by horizontal bold lines. Abbreviations: WT = wild-type; ΔtirS = deleted for the tirS gene. *** p < 0.001.