Figure 8

Cytokine expression of udder epithelial cells after stimulation with E. coli LPS or infection with C. burnetii. Amounts of mRNA specific for IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α after E. coli LPS stimulation (5 µg/mL) or infection with NMI and NMII were measured by qPCR at the time points after inoculation of cultures as indicated. The data were normalized based on the housekeeping gene GAPDH and the unstimulated or uninfected cell control. A randomisation test with a pair-wise reallocation was used to compare ΔCT (cycle threshold)-values from four independent experiments (*p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01).