Reduced responses in Hbb^th3/+ mice to in vivo infection with S pneumoniae. (A) CXCR2 and (B) CXCL2 mRNA levels in the spleen of WT and Hbb^th3/+ mice, in S pneumoniae infected (inf) and naive mice. Expression of mRNA levels for NADPH membrane subunits (C) p22^phox and (D) gp91^phox and cytoplasmic subunits (E) p40^phox and (F) p67^phox in splenocytes derived from naive and S pneumoniae–infected WT and Hbb^th3/+ mice. Expression of mRNA levels for (G) PU.1, (H) G-CSFR, and (I) microRNA miR-223 in spleen of naive and S pneumoniae–infected WT and Hbb^th3/+ mice. The transcript levels were normalized to housekeeping genes GAPDH or U6 small nuclear RNA. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, n ≥ 3 per mice group. The statistical significance between the groups was evaluated with Student t test. (J) Kaplan-Meier survival curves of Hbb^th3/+ mice and WT mice following IV infection with 2000 CFU S pneumoniae (n = 10 per mice group). Statistical significance between groups was evaluated using Mantel-Cox test. Bacterial load in (K) blood, (L) spleen, and (M) liver following S pneumoniae infection (n ≥ 4 per mice group). Symbols represent results from individual mice, showing the mean (horizontal bar) ± SEM for each group. Dotted line indicates detection limit. Statistical analyses of data were performed using Mann-Whitney U test.