<p>Anti-C1q autoantibody levels are exacerbated in curli-treated MRL/lpr mice.</p>

<p><b>(A)</b> Experimental scheme: MRL/lpr mice at age 6 weeks underwent weekly intraperitoneal injections of curli, purified from <i>Salmonella</i> Typhimurium biofilms or PBS for untreated controls, and periodic serum samples, taken 24 hours after each injection, for 6 weeks. <b>(B-C)</b> ELISA assays detected anti-dsDNA antibodies in serum diluted (<b>B</b>) 1:250 or (<b>C</b>) 1:500. <b>(D)</b> ELISA assay detected anti-C1q antibodies in serum diluted 1:50, normalized to the <b>O.</b>D. of the positive control untreated MRL/lpr serum.

Dotted lines indicate relative <b>O.</b>D. of MRL/lpr positive control serum (top line) or negative control with no serum added (bottom line). Week -1 denotes baseline samples collected from each group one week before the first injection (Week 0). Statistics: Two-way ANOVA with Sidak’s multiple comparisons, comparisons within legends indicating overall column factor, (*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01).</p>