Fig. 5: Cellulose disruption does not affect colonisation but enhances neutrophil infiltration of the bladder in the murine model of UTI.

a Representative bladder tissue sections from mice that received PBS, WT or bcsA*. Sections were stained with anti-Ly6G antibodies to show neutrophils (brown). b Neutrophil infiltrates were quantified for sections of whole bladder and presented as mean ± SD. Each point represents an average count for duplicate bladder sections from a single mouse (n = 3–7). Data were analysed using a one-way ANOVA with Dunnett multiple comparisons, with p-values displayed. c, Cytokine responses in the bladder (n = 4–9) in response to infection presented as mean ± SD. Bladders of mice infected with WT exhibited higher levels of chemotactic cytokines MIP-1a, MIP-1b and RANTES compared to infection with bcsA*. Data were analysed using a one-way ANOVA with Dunnett multiple comparisons, with p-values displayed. d Bacterial load recovered from the bladder of mice infected with WT and bcsA* at 1-day post-infection. Data are pooled from two independent experiments (n = 20 for each strain). Presented as mean +/− SD, ns = not significant; compared using the two-tailed Mann–Whitney test. e Bacterial load recovered from the bladder of mice infected with WT and bcsA* at 3-days post-infection (n = 16), presented as mean +/− SD, ns = not significant; compared using the two-tailed Mann–Whitney test. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.