Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Exposure to Antibiotics Modifies the Immune Profiles of Bacterial Extracellular Vesicles from Common Vaginal Anaerobes
doi: 10.64898/2026.05.21.726874
Figure Lengend Snippet: Production of cytokines by epithelial cells and monocytes in response to bEVs. We exposed ectocervical (Ect1), endocervical (End1) and vaginal (VK2) epithelial cells, as well as monocytes (THP1) with bEVs produced by LC, GV, and MM under different antibiotic treatment regimens: unexposed (grey), ampicillin (green), clindamycin (blue), metronidazole (red). As negative controls, cells were cultured either in growth media alone (Media ctrl, white) or in growth media containing the same concentration of bEV suspension media (bEV vehicle ctrl, dark grey). The levels of GM-CSF, IL-6, and IL-8 in the culture supernatant were measured in response to (a-c) LC bEVs, (d-f) GV bEVs, and (g-i) MM bEVs in Ect, End, and VK2 cells, respectively. Similarly, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α levels were measured in THP1 cells in response to (j–l) LC bEVs, (m–o) GV bEVs, and (p–r) MM bEVs. Minimal Detection Concentration (MDC) for IL-6 and TNF-α are included in the plot. Bar plots represent the mean levels, with error bars indicating the standard deviation (n=3). A one-way ANOVA followed by Sidak’s multiple comparison test with FDR correction was used to compare group differences. Significant differences from the bEV vehicle control group are indicated with “#,” and significant differences between bEV-treated groups are indicated with “*” (p<0.05), “**” (p<0.01), “***” (p<0.001), or “****” (p<0.0001).
Article Snippet: THP-1-Null cells (THP1) and THP1-Dual KO-TLR2 cells (THP1-TLR2KO; InvivoGen, San Diego, CA, USA) were cultured in RPMI-1640 medium (Life Technologies, Grand Island, NY, USA) supplemented with 10% (v/v) heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (HI-FBS) (Gibco) and 100 U/mL penicillin and 100 μg/mL streptomycin.
Techniques: Produced, Cell Culture, Concentration Assay, Suspension, Standard Deviation, Comparison, Control