Fig. 2

MAPK are required for the infection of the HIBCPP cells by Nm wild type strains. HIBCPP cells were incubated for 1 h with the Erk1/2 and p38 inhibitors U0126, SB203580 or both inhibitors (U + SB) at a concentration of 25 μM each. Untreated cells acted as controls. The HIBCPP cells were infected for 4 h at a MOI 10 in the inverted culture. The intracellular bacteria could be quantified by double immunofluorescence staining (A). The integrity of the barrier function was determined over the course of the experiment by measuring the TEER values (B) and permeability for FITC inulin (C). *** extremely significant, p < 0.001; ** highly significant, p < 0.01; * significant, p < 0.05; when comparing the infection rate of treated cells with the infection rate in the control cells