However, when epithelial cells were exposed to a high dose of the efg1Δ/Δ cph1Δ/Δ mutant, IL-8 and SERPIN E1 expression were induced ~14 hours post-infection and only reached ~50% of the level observed with exposure to either the wild-type or rim101Δ/Δ strains. This evidence concerns the gene CXCL8 and infection.