Figure 1

Treatment of HeLa cells with the cholesterol-depleting compound methyl-β-cyclo-dextrin (MβCD) reduces C. jejuni internalization. HeLa cells were treated with 1.25, 2.5, 5.0, and 7.5 mM of MβCD for 30 min prior to inoculation with C. jejuni, as outlined in the ‘Methods’ section. The control consisted of cells infected with C. jejuni in the absence of the inhibitor in medium containing vehicle (water). Bars indicate the mean of the number of internalized bacteria. The asterisks indicate a significant reduction in C. jejuni internalization compared to cells infected with C. jejuni in the absence of the inhibitor in medium alone, as judged by one-way ANOVA followed by post-hoc Dunnet’s analysis (P < 0.05). Each error bar represents ± the standard deviation of the mean (SD).