Immunobiology of Chlamydia

描述（由申请人提供）：候选人正在申请职业发展奖，以获得衣原体特异性微生物学和免疫学的培训，目标是从事衣原体免疫生物学的职业。他将在Stanley Spinola博士（导师）和Byron Batteiger博士（共同导师）的监督下在自己的实验室工作。一个由细菌发病机理和细胞免疫学专家组成的当地委员会将监测约翰逊博士的进展。此外，他还将前往阿肯色州大学，与Roger Rank博士（顾问）一起进行MoPn动物模型培训。候选人在细胞免疫学和病毒免疫发病机制的动物模型方面受过重要的培训。在此应用程序中概述的指导发展应该为候选人的衣原体免疫生物学的未来研究提供了坚实的基础。在获奖期间，候选人将应用他在先前培训期间开发的独特T细胞培养系统，以研究生殖道衣原体感染的粘膜免疫反应。迄今为止，该领域的许多工作都利用了来自全身免疫区室的T淋巴细胞。候选人提出的使用粘膜免疫学方法的研究应该是对这项工作的补充。根据他先前的研究，约翰逊博士假设，上皮抗原呈递细胞（APC）的使用将促进具有独特性质的粘膜T淋巴细胞的生长，并可能在宿主防御衣原体感染中发挥重要作用。本研究的目的是：1）从雌性小鼠上生殖道中分离上皮细胞系，作为研究衣原体感染的粘膜免疫应答的APC。2)研究衣原体免疫生物学，使用衣原体感染的上皮细胞系作为APC，用于对生殖道感染应答的CD4和CD8 T细胞的离体研究。3)确定粘膜CD8和CD4 T淋巴细胞过继转移对MoPn生殖道感染自然病程的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The candidate is applying for a career development award in order to gain training in chlamydia-specific microbiology and immunology with the goal of pursuing a career in chlamydia immunobiology. He will work in his own laboratory under the supervision of Drs. Stanley Spinola (mentor) and Byron Batteiger (co-mentor). A local committee consisting of experts in bacterial pathogenesis and cellular immunology will monitor Dr. Johnson's progress. In addition, he will travel to the University of Arkansas for training in MoPn animal models with Dr. Roger Rank (consultant). The candidate has significant prior training in cellular immunology and animal models of viral immunopathogenesis. The mentored development outlined in this application should provide a solid foundation for the candidate's future studies of chlamydia immunobiology. During the award period the candidate will apply a unique T cell culture system that he developed during prior training to study the mucosal immune response to chlamydia infections of the reproductive tract. Much of the work done to date in the field has utilized T lymphocytes from the systemic immune compartment. The candidate's proposed research using mucosal immunology methodologies should compliment that work. Based on his prior research, Dr. Johnson hypothesizes that use of epithelial antigen presenting cells (APC) will facilitate outgrowth of mucosal T lymphocytes with unique properties and possibly important roles in host defense against chlamydia infections. The goals of this proposal are: 1) To derive epithelial cell lines from the upper reproductive tract of female mice to serve as APC for studying mucosal immune responses to chlamydia infections. 2) To investigate chlamydia immunobiology using chlamydia-infected epithelial cell lines as APC for ex vivo studies of CD4 and CD8 T cells responding to genital tract infections. 3) To determine the effect of adoptive transfer of mucosal CD8 and CD4 T lymphocytes on the natural course of MoPn genital tract infections.