To explore the matter, they grew laboratory cultures of the sorts of epithelial cells that line human airways and monitored their gene-expression profiles when exposed to LasB, a toxic enzyme produced by the bacterium.

为了探究这一问题，他们在实验室培养了人体呼吸道内的各种上皮细胞，并监测了它们在接触LasB时的基因表达谱，LasB是一种由细菌产生的有毒酶。