Fig. 2

Infection of human HT-29 colon cancer cells. HT-29 cells were infected with C. coli clade 1 blood (B5, B49, B63) and stool (F3, F4, F8) isolates at a MOI of 100 for indicated time periods. The LMG 6440 reference strain and the clade 3 stool isolate 76339 were included for comparison. a Cells were harvested and lysed, and adhered bacteria were quantified using qPCR and expressed as percentage of the starting inoculum. The graph shows mean and standard deviation of at least two independent infection experiments. The means of the blood and stool isolates, respectively, are shown below the graph. A significant difference between blood and stool isolates is indicated with asterisks (p < 0.001). b IL-8 levels in the cell culture media were measured using ELISA and expressed as fold increase over mock-infected cells. The graph shows mean and standard deviation of at least two independent infection experiments. The means of the blood and stool isolates, respectively, are shown below the graph