Fig. 4

Effect of A. actinomycetemcomitans in the absence and presence of highbush blueberry PACs on the integrity of the oral keratinocyte tight junction. Panel a: Effects of time and the number of A. actinomycetemcomitans cells on the transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) of oral keratinocytes. Panel b: Inhibitory effect of highbush blueberry PACs on the A. actinomycetemcomitans-induced decrease in the TER of oral keratinocytes. Panel c: Immunofluorescence staining of tight junction proteins occludin and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) of oral keratinocytes infected (24 h) by A. actinomycetemcomitans in the absence and presence of blueberry PACs. A 100% value was assigned to the TER at time 0. Results are expressed as the mean ± SD of triplicate assays. Φ: significant increase (p < 0.001) compared with unstimulated control cells (a) or with A. actinomycetemcomitans-stimulated cells not treated with highbush blueberry PACs (B). ∗: significant decrease (p < 0.001) compared with unstimulated control cells