Fig. 2

DNA methyltransferase inhibition abrogates A. phagocytophilum growth in HL-60 cells. a Treatment for 24 h with the DNMT inhibitor 5-azacytidine 24 h post A. phagocytophilum infection results in a reduction in bacterial load regardless of inhibitor concentration. The bacterial load in three replicates was determined using a qRT PCR assay of A. phagocytophilum msp2/p44 normalized to HL-60 cell ACTB and to vehicle treated cells. b Treatment with the DNMT inhibitor RG108 for 72 h post A. phagocytophilum infection results in a dose-dependent reduction in bacterial load at 48 and 72 h. Results are normalized to HL-60 cell ACTB, but displayed in comparison with vehicle-only-treated cells. P values displayed above the bars were calculated by two-sided unequal variance Student’s t tests by comparison with vehicle only-treated samples at the same time interval after infection