Genetics of Host Resistance to Chlamydia trachomatis

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Host genetic variation plays a large role in the outcome of infection. Therefore, genetic analysis of resistance to infectious disease can reveal genes important for affecting the severity of disease course. This type of genetic analysis has been very successful in the mouse for a variety of infection models, and this data has pointed the way to candidate genes that could affect human infections. For the proposed genetic experiments, we have decided to focus on mouse infections with the human pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis. It is a major cause of blindness in endemic regions, and may be the most common source of bacterial sexually transmitted disease in the world. Based on the results of studies of human and animal infections with Chlamydia, it seems likely that at least some of the variations in disease symptoms result from genetic differences in host susceptibility to distinct elements of chlamydial disease. Therefore, we want to study the role of host genetic background in the severity of Chlamydia infections, using a mouse models of a human chlamydial disease. For our first Aim, we will utilize mouse genetics as a means to refine the location of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) that influence the outcome of an acute systemic infection with C. trachomatis, which is designed to model elements of the human sexually transmitted disease called lymphogranulum venereum. For the second Aim, we will identify the genes that underlie the effects of those QTL. For the third Aim, we will study the genes isolated in the first 2 Aims, to determine their effects on intracellular bacterial replication. This project will attempt to define mouse genes that affect susceptibility to disease caused by infections with Chlamydia trachomatis. It is likely that humans will have similar gene functions that will influence similar susceptibilities to infectious disease. Since infections with Chlamydia trachomatis are common in the human population, it is possible that knowledge of these genes could help to design diagnostics or therapies for this infection.