scholarly journals The Hypothetical Protein CT813 Is Localized in the Chlamydia trachomatis Inclusion Membrane and Is Immunogenic in Women Urogenitally Infected with C. trachomatis

2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 4826-4840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaoqun Chen ◽  
Ding Chen ◽  
Jyotika Sharma ◽  
Wen Cheng ◽  
Youmin Zhong ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Using antibodies raised with chlamydial fusion proteins, we have localized a protein encoded by hypothetical open reading frame CT813 in the inclusion membrane of Chlamydia trachomatis. The detection of the C. trachomatis inclusion membrane by an anti-CT813 antibody was blocked by the CT813 protein but not unrelated fusion proteins. The CT813 protein was detected as early as 12 h after chlamydial infection and was present in the inclusion membrane during the entire growth cycle. All tested serovars from C. trachomatis but not other chlamydial species expressed the CT813 protein. Exogenously expressed CT813 protein in HeLa cells displayed a cytoskeleton-like structure similar to but not overlapping with host cell intermediate filaments, suggesting that the CT813 protein is able to either polymerize or associate with host cell cytoskeletal structures. Finally, women with C. trachomatis urogenital infection developed high titers of antibodies to the CT813 protein, demonstrating that the CT813 protein is not only expressed but also immunogenic during chlamydial infection in humans. In all, the CT813 protein is an inclusion membrane protein unique to C. trachomatis species and has the potential to interact with host cells and induce host immune responses during natural infection. Thus, the CT813 protein may represent an important candidate for understanding C. trachomatis pathogenesis and developing intervention and prevention strategies for controlling C. trachomatis infection.

2004 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanaa Fadel ◽  
Adrian Eley

Sulphated glycosaminoglycans, such as heparan sulphate, have been shown to be essential for the infectivity of many organisms. The aims of this study were to verify the role of sulphated glycosaminoglycans in chlamydial infection and to investigate whether they are present on chlamydia or chlamydial host cells. The effect of undersulphation of host cells and chlamydial elementary bodies was examined using sodium chlorate. Also studied was whether any inhibitory effect was reversible. The results strongly suggest that Chlamydia trachomatis does not produce heparan sulphate and that heparan sulphate of the host cell is necessary and sufficient to mediate chlamydial infection. The essential role played by the sulphate constituents of the host-cell glycosaminoglycan in the infectivity of LGV serovars, and to a lesser extent of serovar E, was also confirmed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 2746-2757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhongyu Li ◽  
Chaoqun Chen ◽  
Ding Chen ◽  
Yimou Wu ◽  
Youmin Zhong ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Although the Chlamydia trachomatis genome is predicted to encode 50 inclusion membrane proteins, only 18 have been experimentally localized in the inclusion membrane of C. trachomatis-infected cells. Using fusion proteins and anti-fusion protein antibodies, we have systematically evaluated all 50 putative inclusion membrane proteins for their localization in the infected cells, distribution patterns, and effects on subsequent chlamydial infection when expressed ectopically, as well as their immunogenicity during chlamydial infection in humans. Twenty-two of the 50 proteins were localized in the inclusion membrane, and 7 were detected inside the inclusions, while the location of the remaining 21 was not defined. Four (CT225, CT228, CT358, and CT440) of the 22 inclusion membrane-localized proteins were visualized in the inclusion membrane of Chlamydia-infected cells for the first time in the current study. The seven intra-inclusion-localized proteins were confirmed to be chlamydial organism proteins in a Western blot assay. Further characterization of the 50 proteins revealed that neither colocalization with host cell endoplasmic reticulum nor inhibition of subsequent chlamydial infection by ectopically expressed proteins correlated with the inclusion membrane localization. Interestingly, antibodies from women with C. trachomatis urogenital infection preferentially recognized proteins localized in the inclusion membrane, and the immunodominant regions were further mapped to the region predicted to be on the cytoplasmic side of the inclusion membrane. These observations suggest that most of the inclusion membrane-localized proteins are both expressed and immunogenic during C. trachomatis infection in humans and that the cytoplasmic exposure may enhance the immunogenicity.


2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (11) ◽  
pp. 6479-6486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Dong ◽  
Rhonda Flores ◽  
Ding Chen ◽  
Jianhua Luo ◽  
Youmin Zhong ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Using antibodies raised with chlamydial fusion proteins, we have localized a protein encoded by the hypothetical open reading frame Cpn0797 in the cytoplasm of Chlamydia pneumoniae-infected host cells. The anti-Cpn0797 antibodies specifically recognized Cpn0797 protein without cross-reacting with either CPAFcp or Cpn0796, the only two proteins known to be secreted into the host cell cytosol by C. pneumoniae organisms. Thus, Cpn0797 represents the third C. pneumoniae protein secreted into the host cell cytosol experimentally identified so far.


2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susmita Ghosh ◽  
Elizabeth A. Ruelke ◽  
Joshua C. Ferrell ◽  
Maria D. Bodero ◽  
Kenneth A. Fields ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The translocated actin recruiting phosphoprotein (Tarp) is a multidomain type III secreted effector used by Chlamydia trachomatis. In aggregate, existing data suggest a role of this effector in initiating new infections. As new genetic tools began to emerge to study chlamydial genes in vivo, we speculated as to what degree Tarp function contributes to Chlamydia’s ability to parasitize mammalian host cells. To address this question, we generated a complete tarP deletion mutant using the fluorescence-reported allelic exchange mutagenesis (FRAEM) technique and complemented the mutant in trans with wild-type tarP or mutant tarP alleles engineered to harbor in-frame domain deletions. We provide evidence for the significant role of Tarp in C. trachomatis invasion of host cells. Complementation studies indicate that the C-terminal filamentous actin (F-actin)-binding domains are responsible for Tarp-mediated invasion efficiency. Wild-type C. trachomatis entry into HeLa cells resulted in host cell shape changes, whereas the tarP mutant did not. Finally, using a novel cis complementation approach, C. trachomatis lacking tarP demonstrated significant attenuation in a murine genital tract infection model. Together, these data provide definitive genetic evidence for the critical role of the Tarp F-actin-binding domains in host cell invasion and for the Tarp effector as a bona fide C. trachomatis virulence factor.


2004 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 451-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Whitney Greene ◽  
Yangming Xiao ◽  
Yanqing Huang ◽  
Grant McClarty ◽  
Guangming Zhong

ABSTRACT Both anti- and proapoptotic activities have been reported to occur during chlamydial infection. To reconcile the apparent controversy, we compared host cell apoptotic responses to infection with 17 different chlamydial serovars and strains. None of the serovars caused any biologically significant apoptosis in the infected host cells. Host cells in chlamydia-infected cultures can continue to undergo DNA synthesis and mitosis. Chlamydia-infected cells are resistant to apoptosis induction, although the extent of the antiapoptotic ability varied between serovars. These observations have demonstrated that an anti- but not proapoptotic activity is the prevailing event in chlamydia-infected cultures.


2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 1795-1799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Stephens ◽  
Jesse M. Poteralski ◽  
Lynn Olinger

ABSTRACT The hypothesis that host cell surface heparan sulfate is required to promote chlamydial infection was tested using a cell line (CHO-18.4) containing a single retroviral insertion and the concomitant loss of heparan sulfate biosynthesis. Tests of chlamydial infectivity of heparan sulfate-deficient CHO-18.4 cells and parental cells, CHO-22, demonstrated that both were equally sensitive to infection by Chlamydia trachomatis serovars L2 and D. These data do not support the hypothesis and demonstrate that host cell surface heparan sulfate does not serve an essential functional role in chlamydial infectivity.


2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Lei ◽  
Manli Qi ◽  
Nicole Budrys ◽  
Robert Schenken ◽  
Guangming Zhong

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick D. Pokorzynski ◽  
REY CARABEO

Persistence, a viable, but non-replicating state has been implicated in diseases caused by Chlamydia trachomatis. Multiple nutritional stressors produce a superficially similar "persistent" state, yet no systematic comparison has been made to determine their likeness. We employed host-pathogen dual RNA-sequencing under both iron- and tryptophan-starved conditions to gain insight into chlamydial persistence and identify contributions by the host cell. Analysis of the transcriptome of iron- or tryptophan-starved Chlamydia revealed a common "core" component and a stress-specific "accessory" subset. Despite the overall transcriptomic differences of host cells starved for either iron or tryptophan, both stressors induced persistence. A common metabolic consequence of the stressors was a reduction in intracellular GTP levels. Mizoribine inhibition of IMDPH1, which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in de novo guanine nucleotide synthesis reproduced to a similar extent GTP depletion, and inhibited chlamydial growth as expected for a pathogen that is auxotrophic for GTP. Thus, the reduction of guanine nucleotide synthesis manifests amplification of either iron or tryptophan starvation contributing to persistence. These findings illustrate that a nutritionally stressed host cell remains effective in arresting growth of Chlamydia by targeting metabolic pathways required by the pathogen.


Cell Reports ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1406-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary M. Weber ◽  
Jennifer L. Lam ◽  
Cheryl A. Dooley ◽  
Nicholas F. Noriea ◽  
Bryan T. Hansen ◽  
...  

2007 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 1243-1249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja Shivshankar ◽  
Lei Lei ◽  
Jie Wang ◽  
Guangming Zhong

ABSTRACT We report that rottlerin, a plant-derived compound known to inhibit various mammalian kinases, profoundly inhibited chlamydial growth in cell culture with a minimal inhibition concentration of 1 μM. The inhibition was effective even when rottlerin was added as late as the middle stage of chlamydial infection cycle, against multiple Chlamydia species, and in different host cell lines. Pretreatment of host cells with rottlerin prior to infection also blocked chlamydial growth, suggesting that rottlerin targets host factors. Moreover, rottlerin did not alter the chlamydial infection rate and did not directly target chlamydial protein synthesis and secretion. The rottlerin-mediated inhibition of chlamydial replication and inclusion expansion correlated well with the rottlerin-induced blockade of host cell sphingolipid trafficking from the Golgi apparatus into chlamydial inclusions. These studies not only allowed us to identify a novel antimicrobial activity for rottlerin but also allowed us to uncover a potential mechanism for rottlerin inhibition of chlamydial growth.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document