Fig. 3

FimH adhesin is expressed by bacteria in ileal biopsies from patients with CD and induces inflammatory response in a TLR4-dependent manner. a Aggregation of LF82 E. coli upon incubation with TAK-018. Note that FimH^−/− LF82 E. coli did not aggregate upon incubation with E. coli illustrating that aggregation is a FimH-dependent phenomenon. b Presence of FimH-expressing bacteria in patients with CD as measured by aggregation of bacteria to TAK-018 in ileal biopsies. One to two biopsies were analyzed per patient. c FimS-ON expression in fecal samples from patients with CD, as measured by qPCR. Bars represent the median of all points. Nonparametric Mann–Whitney U test was used to identify the statistically significant differences between groups (*P < 0.05; n.s. nonsignificant). d Secretion of TNF-α of HEK-hTLR4^+/+ and HEK-TLR4^−/− cells upon incubation with increased concentration of FimH. LPS was used as a positive control at a concentration of 100 ng/ml. FimH was produced in yeast in order to be LPS-free. The data are centered on the mean value at 0. Bars represent the mean of all points. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to identify the statistically significant difference between TLR4^−/− and TLR4^+/+ groups upon FimH treatment (****P < 0.0001; 0 nM and LPS conditions were excluded from the ANCOVA)