CXCL8 and staphylococcus aureus infection: Increased levels of IL-8 mRNA in murine MECs and bovine MECs induced by P. zopfii GT-II demonstrated that mammary epithelial cells are an important source of IL-8 and that this chemokine is key during protothecal mastitis, perhaps by recruiting leukocytes, as demonstrated by its chemoattractant role in Staphylococcus aureus infection in bMECs35,36.