Capture of circulating Spn10A by liver macrophages. (A and B) Survival rates (A) and bacteremia levels (B) of mice i.v. infected with 10⁶ CFU of D39, TIGR4, and five serotype-10A pneumococcal strains. The serotype of each strain is denoted with superscripted characters. n = 10. The dashed line represents the detection limit. (C) Bacteremia kinetics of mice in the first 30 min after i.v. infection, as in A. n = 6. (D and E) Survival rates (D) and bacteremia levels (E) of mice i.v. infected with 10⁶ CFU of isogenic capsule-switched serotype-2, -4, and -10A strains. n = 10. (F) Bacteremia kinetics of mice in the first 30 min after i.v. infection, as in D. n = 6. (G) Bacterial distribution in the blood and major organs of mice after i.v. infection with 10⁶ CFU of TH860^10A. n = 6. (H) IVM detection of pneumococcal capture in the liver sinusoids of Clec4f-DTR mice treated with (+DT) or without (−DT) DT after i.v. infection with 5 × 10⁷ CFU of TH860^10A. Representative images (left) showed S. pneumoniae (green), KCs (red), and microvasculature (cyan) at 15 min after infection. Scale bar, 10 μm. n = 2. Bacteria immobilized on KCs (right panel) were quantified. The clearance processes are demonstrated in Video 1. Data were representative results (H) or pooled from two independent experiments (A–G). Unpaired t test (H) was performed. ****, P < 0.0001.