Neutrophils were depleted using anti-Gr-1 mAb RB6–8C5 (BioXCell). Specifically, starting at one day before bacterial infection, mice were injected i.p. with anti-Gr-1 mAb RB6–8C5 (0.1 mg/day) to deplete neutrophils or with rat IgG as a control. The efficiency of neutrophil depletion in bacterial-infected mice was confirmed by flow cytometry (27 (link)).