UPREGULATION OF PML IN CHLAMIDIA INFECTION

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Chlamydia trachomatis can produce a wide range of acute clinical infections including cervicitis and salpingitis in the female; urethritis and epididymitis in the male; and conjunctivitis and pneumonia in infants. Of the estimated 4 million chlamydial infections that occur in the USA on a yearly basis, 2.6 million occur in women, 1.8 million in men, and the rest in infants. Currently, it is estimated that the incidence and prevalence of chlamydial infections in the USA are 3 and 2 million cases per year, respectively. Although in most instances C. trachomatis produces a self-limited infection, in certain individuals, the disease leads to chronic sequelae. Among the major complications tubal infertility, ectopic pregnancy and chronic abdominal pain are frequently associated with a C. trachomatis infection. In the USA, C. trachomatis infections represent the most common cause of tubal infertility. The mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of tubal infertility resulting from a chlamydial infection are poorly understood. One possibility is that, as a result of the infection, there is fibrosis of the fallopian tube. This scar tissue will lead to the occlusion of the lumen of the fallopian tube. Alternatively, as a result of the growth of C. trachomatis, a structural and/or functional disruption of the epithelium of the fallopian tube may result in blockage of the lumen. Over the last 10 years we have implemented a murine model of C. trachomatis genital infection that closely parallels the disease in humans. Mice infected with Chlamydia develop an acute salpingitis that, over a period of 4-6 weeks, results in infertility. Using two photon imaging/spectroscopy in this model should allow us to characterize the pathogenesis of the disease and to develop diagnostic methods that may eventually be used in humans.