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Infect. Immun., 06 1996, 1944-1949, Vol 64, No. 6
SJ Rasmussen, P Timms, PR Beatty and RS Stephens
Persistent chlamydial infections have been proposed as a means whereby
chlamydiae evade immune resolution of infection. Such a mechanism would
require evasion not only of the humoral immune responses but also of
cell-mediated immune responses. We hypothesized that if such a mechanism is
important, persistently infected cells should not be recognized by
cytotoxic T cells. Persistent infections were simulated in vitro by
treatment of Chlamydia trachomatis- or Chlamydia psittaci- infected cells
with gamma interferon (IFN-gamma), penicillin, or tryptophan depletion.
Cultures were examined for induction of a chlamydial stress response
(measured by transcription of groesl RNA) and for the effects on viability,
infectivity, morphology, and immune recognition. Although both IFN-gamma
and penicillin induced aberrant chlamydial morphology and growth, we did
not find evidence that these treatments elicited a classical stress
response. In addition, T-cell- mediated lysis of Chlamydia-infected target
cells treated with IFN- gamma or penicillin or grown in
tryptophan-deficient media was examined. The immune cell-mediated lysis of
these treated infected cells demonstrated that despite the effects of these
compounds on chlamydial growth and development, the infected cells
continued to be efficiently recognized and killed by cytotoxic T cells.
Thus, it seems unlikely that these in vitro models of persistence represent
functional mechanisms to evade immune clearance.
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology
Cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte-mediated cytolysis of L cells persistently infected with Chlamydia spp
Francis I. Proctor Foundation and Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California at San Francisco 94143-0412, USA.
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