Yang et al., 2016 also correlated Snail-1 expression with the upregulation of VEGFA upon in vivo and in vitro E. coli K1 challenge, causing increased BBB permeability. In the present study, our RNA-Seq data showed upregulation of VEGFA in response to Nm infection, which was confirmed by qPCR (Figure 5B,D). Thus, the role of VEGFA in host responses to Nm may include bacterial hijacking mechanisms for BEC disruption, which may be worth further investigation. The gene discussed is VEGFA; the disease is infection.