Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Fig. 1.
Survival of S. pyogenes-infected mice after inoculation in air pouches with 4 × 109 CFU of wild-type A-20 (n = 21) or its speB mutant, SW 507 (n = 23) (A), or wild-type NZ131 (n = 12) or its speB mutant, SW510 (n = 15) (B).
- Fig. 2.
Skin tissue sections from mice 48 h after inoculation in air pouches with 109 CFU of S. pyogenes A-20 (A), SW507 (B), NZ131 (C), SW510 (D), A-20 in mice pretreated with vinblastine (E), and SW507 in mice pretreated with vinblastine (F). Magnification, ×24 (A, B, E, and F) and ×60 (C and D). The epidermis, subcutaneous fat, and muscle fibers were severely damaged or destroyed in skin tissues infected by wild-type strains with or without vinblastine pretreatment but not in those infected by thespeB mutants.
- Fig. 3.
Numbers of cells collected from the exudates of the air pouches of mice injected with 109 CFU of A-20 (n = 18), NZ131 (n = 7), and theirspeB mutants, SW507 (n = 18) and SW510 (n = 7), 12 h postinjection. ∗,P < 0.05; ∗∗, P < 0.01 (by Student’s t test).
- Fig. 4.
Protection against skin infection by protease-positiveS. pyogenes by immunization with SPE B. Mice were immunized with purified SPE B, with nonimmunized mice as controls, before A-20 challenge. Only those that showed titers of anti-SPE B 100-fold or more higher than those of the nonimmunized group were used for experiments.n = 5 mice/group.
Tables
- Table 1.
Mortality in SW507-infected mice with or without SPE B in the air pouch
Expt no. Inoculation Mortality (no. dead/total) Day 2 Day 4 Day 6 1a SW507 + saline 0/12 0/12 0/12 SW507 + SPE B 7/18 14/18 14/18 2b SW507 + saline 0/6 0/6 0/6 SW507 + SPE B 4/10 9/10 10/10 SW507 + SPE B (heat inactivated) 0/8 0/8 0/8 ↵a BALB/c mice were inoculated in the air pouches with 4 × 108 CFU of A-20 speBmutant SW507, and 150 μl of purified SPE B (1 mg/ml) or an equivalent volume of saline was also inoculated into the air pouches, at both 0 and 3 h.
↵b In one group, SPE B was heat inactivated at 60°C for 20 to 30 min before inoculation into the air pouches.
