UPREGULATION OF PML IN CHLAMIDIA INFECTION

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是针对中心的，而不一定是针对调查员的机构。沙眼衣原体可引起多种急性临床感染，包括女性的宫颈和输卵管炎；男性的尿道炎和附睾炎；以及婴儿的结膜炎和肺炎。据估计，在美国每年发生的400万衣原体感染中，260万发生在女性，180万发生在男性，其余发生在婴儿中。目前，据估计，美国衣原体感染的发病率和流行率分别为每年300万例和200万例。虽然在大多数情况下，沙眼衣原体会产生自限性感染，但在某些人中，这种疾病会导致慢性后遗症。输卵管性不孕、宫外孕和慢性腹痛是沙眼衣原体感染的主要并发症。在美国，沙眼衣原体感染是导致输卵管性不孕的最常见原因。衣原体感染引起的输卵管性不孕症的发病机制尚不清楚。一种可能性是，由于感染，输卵管出现纤维化。这种疤痕组织会导致输卵管管腔的闭塞。或者，由于沙眼衣原体的生长，输卵管上皮结构和/或功能的破坏可能导致管腔堵塞。在过去的10年里，我们已经建立了沙眼衣原体生殖道感染的小鼠模型，这与人类的疾病非常相似。感染衣原体的小鼠发生急性输卵管炎，在4-6周内导致不孕。在这个模型中使用双光子成像/光谱学应该允许我们描述疾病的发病机制，并开发最终可能用于人类的诊断方法。

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.