Fig. 2: Monitoring bone erosion by microcomputed tomography (μCT) and cytokine levels in mice infected with NWT or Δnuc1.

a Bone erosion score and (b) CT frequency of the joints in NMRI mice intravenously injected with S. aureus NWT or its Δnuc1 mutant on day 7 post-infection. c Representative 3D images of micro-computed tomography (µCT) scanning of the mice joints (hand, knee, shoulder) created with µCT scanner after infection. Right panel: NWT; left panel: Δnuc1; red arrow indicates bone erosion. d–g Levels of IL-6, TNF-α, KC, and S100A8/A9 were measured in plasma derived from NMRI mice intravenously injected with NWT or Δnuc1. Statistical analyses were performed using the Fisher exact test (a) and Mann-Whitney U test (b, d–g), where the data were represented in mean ± SEM (b, d–g)., where the data were represented in mean ± SEM. Statistical significance: not significant, p > 0.05; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.