Chlamydia trachomatisPlasmid Gene Protein 3 Is Essential for the Establishment of Persistent Infection and Associated Immunopathology
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Yang, Chunfu; Kari, Laszlo; Lei, Lei; Carlson, John H.; Ma, Li; Couch, Claire E.; Whitmire, William M.; Bock, Kevin; Moore, Ian; Bonner, Christine; McClarty, Grant; Caldwell, Harlan D.
- Source
- mBio; July 2020, Vol. 11 Issue: 4
- Subject
- Language
- ISSN
- 21612129; 21507511
Chlamydia trachomatiscan cause persistent infection that drives damaging inflammatory responses resulting in infertility and blindness. Little is known about chlamydial genes that cause persistence or factors that drive damaging pathology. In this work, we show that the C. trachomatisplasmid protein gene 3 (Pgp3) is the essential virulence factor for establishing persistent female genital tract infection and provide supportive evidence that Pgp3 functions similarly in a nonhuman primate trachoma model. We further show that persistent Ppg3-dependent infection drives damaging immunopathology. These results are important advances in understanding the pathophysiology of chlamydial persistence.