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Infection and Immunity, August 2009, p. 3218-3226, Vol. 77, No. 8
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.01566-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Chlamydia trachomatis-Infected Patients Display Variable Antibody Profiles against the Nine-Member Polymorphic Membrane Protein Family
,
Chun Tan,1
Ru-ching Hsia,1
Huizhong Shou,1
Catherine L. Haggerty,2
Roberta B. Ness,3
Charlotte A. Gaydos,4
Deborah Dean,5
Amy M. Scurlock,6
David P. Wilson,7 and
Patrik M. Bavoil1*
Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, University of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore, Maryland,1 Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,2 University of Texas, Houston, Texas,3 Division of Infectious Diseases, International STD and Biothreat Research Laboratory, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland,4 Center for Immunobiology and Vaccine Development, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, California, and Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, and Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California, and University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California,5 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute, Little Rock, Arkansas,6 National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia7
Received 23 December 2008/ Returned for modification 4 March 2009/ Accepted 17 May 2009
Genomic analysis of the Chlamydiaceae has revealed a multigene family encoding large, putatively autotransported polymorphic membrane proteins (Pmps) with nine members in the sexually transmitted pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis. While various pathogenesis-related functions are emerging for the Pmps, observed genotypic and phenotypic variation among several chlamydial Pmps in various Chlamydia species has led us to hypothesize that the pmp gene repertoire is the basis of a previously undetected mechanism of antigenic variation. To test this hypothesis, we chose to examine the serologic response of C. trachomatis-infected patients to each Pmp subtype. Immune serum samples were collected from four populations of patients with confirmed C. trachomatis genital infection: 40 women with pelvic inflammatory disease from Pittsburgh, PA; 27 and 34 adolescent/young females from Oakland, CA, and Little Rock, AR, respectively; and 58 adult male patients from Baltimore, MD. The Pmp-specific antibody response was obtained using immunoblot analysis against each of the nine recombinantly expressed Pmps and quantified by densitometry. Our results show that nearly all C. trachomatis-infected patients mount a strong serologic response against individual or multiple Pmp subtypes and that the antibody specificity profile varies between patients. Moreover, our analysis reveals differences in the strengths and specificities of the Pmp subtype-specific antibody reactivity relating to gender and clinical outcome. Overall, our results indicate that the Pmps elicit various serologic responses in C. trachomatis-infected patients and are consistent with the pmp gene family being the basis of a mechanism of antigenic variation.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore, MD 21201. Phone: (410) 706-6789. Fax: (410) 706-0865. E-mail: pbavoil{at}umaryland.edu
Published ahead of print on 1 June 2009.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://iai.asm.org/.
Infection and Immunity, August 2009, p. 3218-3226, Vol. 77, No. 8
0019-9567/09/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/IAI.01566-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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