Invasion of human osteoblasts by <i>S. epidermidis</i> clinical isolates.

<p>A. Determination of the optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) for use in osteoblast invasion assays (reference strain NCTC11047). B. Evaluation of the rate at which <i>S. epidermidis</i> strains invade the MG63 osteoblastic cell line for nasal colonization (n = 22) versus orthopedic infection (n = 15) isolates. C. Comparison of the invasion rate in MG63 osteoblastic cells and primary human osteoblasts for <i>S. aureus</i> 8325-4, <i>S. epidermidis</i> NCTC11047, and one randomly chosen <i>S. epidermidis</i> clinical isolate. Data are represented as the means and standard deviations of three replicate cultures from one gentamicin protection assay. NS: Not significant.