HRG-deficient animals do not have a systemic chemotaxis defect and are not more susceptible to systemic S pyogenes infection. (A) Wild-type or HRG-deficient animals (n = 9 per group) received an intraperitoneal injection with S pyogenes (1 × 107 CFU/animal). The animals were killed 18 hours later and leucocytes were counted in the peritoneal fluid. (B) Epidermal keratinocytes were isolated and cultured from wild-type and HRG-deficient animals. The media from these cells was tested in a neutrophil chemotaxis assay, and the migration was calculated. Data are representative of 3 experiments, which all gave the same profile of results. (C) Wild-type (unbroken lines) or HRG-deficient (broken lines) animals (n = 11 per group) received an intraperitoneal injection with S pyogenes (1 × 107 CFU/animal). Health status and survival were monitored and are represented in a Kaplan-Meier survival curve. (D) At the time of death the spleen was harvested, and bacterial load was determined for all animals.
