Chlamydia trachomatis and C. pneumoniae are important causes of human infections and disease. C. trachomatis , is the major cause of non-congenital blindness in the third world and a leading cause of sexually transmitted diseases and non-congenital infertility in Western countries. C. pneumoniae causes a wide range of respiratory infections. The extraordinary prevalence and array of these diseases as well as their capacity to lead to infertility, blindness, and various chronic states make them public concerns of the first importance. Although infections can be treated with antibiotics, no drug is cost-effectiv enough for widespread elimination of the disease in underdeveloped countries, and attempts at vaccines have been unsuccessful. A detailed understanding of the life cycle and the mechanisms of pathogenesis have been hindered by the lack of Chlamydia genetics, but we have now made substantial inroads into understanding Chlamydia pathogenesis by monitoring its effects on the cell biology of the host. These studies are essential to identify new strategies for treatment and prevention. All Chlamydia species are obligate intracellular parasites that must establish a privileged niche (a membrane bound compartment termed the inclusion) in order to survive and replicate in the hostile intracellular environment. Recent transformative research from our lab and others reveals that the inclusion is not an isolated compartment devoid of interactions with the host. Instead, we now understand that Chlamydia, despite its small genome size, encodes well over 100 proteins that are secreted that function to selectively recruit organelles and to manipulate host cell trafficking pathways, allowing Chlamydia to acquire essential nutrients and escape detection by the host immune response. Indeed, subversion of host cell trafficking pathways is emerging as a common theme in successful intracellular microbes. Further unraveling these complex events will yield important clues into the pathogenesis of infectious disease as well as provide novel insights into fundamental eukaryotic cell biology, with implications ranging from developmental biology to cancer biology. Our short term goals are as follows:
Aim 1. We will investigate how C. trachomatis utilizes Arf1 to establish a unique intracellular niche.
Aim 2. We will investigate the hypothesis that Chlamydia establishes an """"""""onsite"""""""" lipid biosynthetic factory at the inclusion membrane that is necessary for bacterial replication and inclusion growth and stability.
Aim 3. We will use state of the art biochemical and imaging techniques to gain a mechanistic understand of chlamydial inclusion fusion. Together, these findings will increase our basic knowledge of the pathogenesis of intracellular infections. In addition, they have the potential to identify new targets for the development of new therapeutic, diagnostic, and preventative therapies.

Public Health Relevance

Chlamydia species are an important cause of human diseases world-wide. This application will investigate how chlamydia replicates and survives within the hostile intracellular environment of the host cell. These studies may allow the development of new drug and vaccine targets.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI073770-08
Application #
8707936
Study Section
Host Interactions with Bacterial Pathogens Study Section (HIBP)
Program Officer
Hiltke, Thomas J
Project Start
2007-04-15
Project End
2017-08-31
Budget Start
2014-09-01
Budget End
2015-08-31
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Francisco
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
City
San Francisco
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94143
Kumagai, Keigo; Elwell, Cherilyn A; Ando, Shuji et al. (2018) Both the N- and C- terminal regions of the Chlamydial inclusion protein D (IncD) are required for interaction with the pleckstrin homology domain of the ceramide transport protein CERT. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 505:1070-1076
Elwell, Cherilyn A; Czudnochowski, Nadine; von Dollen, John et al. (2017) Chlamydia interfere with an interaction between the mannose-6-phosphate receptor and sorting nexins to counteract host restriction. Elife 6:
Elwell, Cherilyn; Mirrashidi, Kathleen; Engel, Joanne (2016) Chlamydia cell biology and pathogenesis. Nat Rev Microbiol 14:385-400
Mirrashidi, Kathleen M; Elwell, Cherilyn A; Verschueren, Erik et al. (2015) Global Mapping of the Inc-Human Interactome Reveals that Retromer Restricts Chlamydia Infection. Cell Host Microbe 18:109-21
Kim, J H; Chan, C; Elwell, C et al. (2013) Endosulfatases SULF1 and SULF2 limit Chlamydia muridarum infection. Cell Microbiol 15:1560-71
Bastidas, Robert J; Elwell, Cherilyn A; Engel, Joanne N et al. (2013) Chlamydial intracellular survival strategies. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 3:a010256
Elwell, Cherilyn A; Engel, Joanne N (2012) Lipid acquisition by intracellular Chlamydiae. Cell Microbiol 14:1010-8
Elwell, Cherilyn A; Jiang, Shaobo; Kim, Jung Hwa et al. (2011) Chlamydia trachomatis co-opts GBF1 and CERT to acquire host sphingomyelin for distinct roles during intracellular development. PLoS Pathog 7:e1002198
Kim, Jung Hwa; Jiang, Shaobo; Elwell, Cherilyn A et al. (2011) Chlamydia trachomatis co-opts the FGF2 signaling pathway to enhance infection. PLoS Pathog 7:e1002285
Elwell, Cherilyn A; Ceesay, Alhaji; Kim, Jung Hwa et al. (2008) RNA interference screen identifies Abl kinase and PDGFR signaling in Chlamydia trachomatis entry. PLoS Pathog 4:e1000021