Host α-adducin is redistributed and localized to the inclusion membrane in Chlamydia-and Chlamydophila-infected cells

• Published in: Microbiology (Society for General Microbiology) Vol. 154; no. Pt 12; pp. 3848 - 3855
• Main Authors: CHU, Hencelyn G, WEEKS, Sara K, GILLIGAN, Diana M, ROCKEY, Daniel D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Reading Society for General Microbiology 01-12-2008
• Subjects: Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Calmodulin-Binding Proteins - metabolism; Chlamydia trachomatis - pathogenicity; Chlamydia trachomatis - physiology; Chlamydophila - classification; Chlamydophila - pathogenicity; Chlamydophila - physiology; Chlamydophila pneumoniae - pathogenicity; Chlamydophila pneumoniae - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; HeLa Cells; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humans; Immunoblotting; Inclusion Bodies - metabolism; Microbiology; Pathogenicity, virulence, toxins, bacteriocins, pyrogens, host-bacteria relations, miscellaneous strains; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-raf - metabolism; Infection; Chlamydiaceae; Chlamydiales; Bacteria; Membrane; Chlamydia trachomatis; Localization
• ISSN: 1350-0872; 1465-2080
• DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.2008/020941-0

A large-scale analysis of proteins involved in host-cell signalling pathways was performed using chlamydia-infected murine cells in order to identify host proteins that are differentially activated or localized following infection. Two proteins whose distribution was altered in Chlamydia trachomatis-infected cells relative to mock-infected cells were the actin-binding protein adducin and the regulatory kinase Raf-1. Immunoblot analysis with antibodies to both phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated forms of these proteins demonstrated that the abundance of each protein was markedly reduced in the cytosolic fraction of C. trachomatis- and Chlamydophila caviae-infected cells, but the total cellular protein abundance remained unaffected by infection. Fluorescence microscopy of chlamydia-infected cells using anti-alpha-adducin antibodies demonstrated labelling at or near the chlamydial inclusion membrane. Treatment of infected cells with nocodazole or cytochalasin D did not affect alpha-adducin that was localized to the margins of the inclusion. The demonstration of alpha-adducin and Raf-1 redistribution within cells infected by different chlamydiae provides novel opportunities for analysis of host-pathogen interactions in this system.