Relatively lower levels of adherence to human placental and endothelial cells (Fig 3) compared to HEK 293 cells further supports the premise that Tp0136 of T. pallidum could play a role in differential cell binding-mediated colonization of different tissues during infection, which could be potentially again be attributed to the levels of fibronectin and laminin present on the specific host cell surface. The gene discussed is FN1; the disease is infection.