Two Distinct Coagulase-Dependent Barriers Protect Staphylococcus aureus from Neutrophils in a Three Dimensional in vitro Infection Model
Figure 2
Microcolony and MAM diameter of S. aureus Newman strains after growth in 3D-CoG/Fib.
The average diameter of microcolonies and MAM was determined after 16 h of growth in 3D-CoG/Fib (A). Wildtype (wt), coa mutant and eap mutant formed microcolonies and MAM of comparable size. The vWbp emp double mutant did not form any MAM, despite being unaffected in pseudocapsule formation. A sae mutant (Newman-29) neither formed pseudocapsules nor MAM but grew in clusters significantly larger than wt colonies. USA300 microcolonies were comparable in size to wt, pseudocapsule formation was present, but the diameter of the MAM was significantly smaller compared to wt. Data are averaged from at least three independent experiments. Addition of plasmin (8 µg/ml) led to rapid degradation of both pseudocapsule and MAM surrounding S. aureus Newman colonies grown in 3D-CoG/Fib for 17h (B1–B4). The time stamp in the single panels is relative to plasmin addition, scale bar 25 µm.