Cationic Antimicrobial Peptides Promote Microbial Mutagenesis and Pathoadaptation in Chronic Infections
Figure 6
Alginate provides P. aeruginosa protection from lethal concentrations of LL-37.
The survival of P. aeruginosa strains (non-mucoid parental PAO1algD:cat (PAO1), mucoid PDO300, mucoid strains derived from LL-37 (1.2 and 2.1) or H2O2 (1.1) treatment (A), FRDΔalgD (non-mucoid) and FRD1 (mucoid) (B)) was determined following treatment with lethal concentrations of LL-37 (6.25 µM) and is represented as a fold increase from the non-mucoid isogenic strain. Experiments were performed in triplicate on three or four independent occasions. The mean +/− SEM is indicated. Statistical analysis was carried out to compare the survival of mucoid isolates compared to the non-mucoid isogenic strain (PAO1 or FRDΔalgD), using an unpaired two-tailed student's t-test to compare in (* p≤0.05).