LrpCBA pilus-mediated cellular adhesion to ECM-related proteins.

<p>Normalized (OD600 = 0.5) cultures of <i>L</i>. <i>ruminis</i> cells and the recombinant WT and LrpC-deleted LrpCBA-piliated lactococci (GRS1224 and GRS1225, respectively) were assayed for <i>in vitro</i> binding to collagen type I <b>(A)</b>, type IV <b>(B)</b>, and fibronectin <b>(C)</b>. Vectorless (GRS71) and empty vector (GRS1052) lactococci were included as controls in these experiments. Measurements were normally made in triplicate, with the standard error of mean (SEM) shown by limit bars. Statistical differences for individual pairwise comparisons against the GRS71 control are denoted as *** = <i>P</i> ≤ 0.001 (highly significant) or ** = <i>P</i> ≤ 0.01 (very significant).