Estrogen-mediated modulation of Chlamydia trachomatis infection of endometrial cells

LEIVA N; BUONFIGLI J; ALONSO M; SANCHEZ D

Villa de Merlo-San Luis

Congreso; XXV Reunión científica anual. Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2017

Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) are highly prevalent pathologies. There are more than 30 bacteria, viruses and parasites that can cause sexually transmitted infections. Among them, Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most frequent STD bacterial causing agent worldwide. It is an obligate intracellular Gram negative bacterium that multiplies in a non acidic, non degradative, single vacuole called the inclusion. This bacterium avoids degradation in the phagolysosomal pathway, and at the same time, it hijacks the biosynthetic pathway to obtain nutrients from the host cell. CT alters vesicular transport by the sequestration of certain host traffic controllers such as Rab proteins. In addition, chlamydial infections mainly affect women of reproductive age. Thus, sexual hormones may play a role in CT infection course. At present, it is unknown whether estrogen could regulate the expression and/or function of Rab proteins and their effectors in CT-infected cells. Using advanced confocal microscopy and Western blot techniques, we have analyzed whether the expression and/or localization of Rab14 and its interacting protein FIP2 could be affected by sexual hormones in CT-infected cells. Our results show that hormonal microenvironment impacts on chlamydial infection course by modulating Rab functioning. These findings could open a new scenario that justify novel therapeutical options for the treatment of chlamydial infections.