Chlamydia infections and heart disease linked through antigenic mimicry.
Chlamydia infections are epidemiologically linked to human heart disease. A peptide from the murine heart muscle-specific alpha myosin heavy chain that has sequence homology to the 60-kilodalton cysteine-rich outer membrane proteins of Chlamydia pneumoniae, C. psittaci, and C. trachomatis was shown to induce autoimmune inflammatory heart disease in mice. Injection of the homologous Chlamydia peptides into mice also induced perivascular inflammation, fibrotic changes, and blood vessel occlusion in the heart, as well as triggering T and B cell reactivity to the homologous endogenous heart muscle-specific peptide. Chlamydia DNA functioned as an adjuvant in the triggering of peptide-induced inflammatory heart disease. Infection with C. trachomatis led to the production of autoantibodies to heart muscle-specific epitopes. Thus, Chlamydia-mediated heart disease is induced by antigenic mimicry of a heart muscle-specific protein.
Amgen Institute, Ontario Cancer Institute, Departments of Medical Biophysics and Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C1, Canada.
K
K
Bachmaier
N
N
Neu
L M
LM
de la Maza
S
S
Pal
A
A
Hessel
J M
JM
Penninger
D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002689:Chlamydia / Q000276:immunology*; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000276:immunology; D018899:CpG Islands; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018716:Molecular Mimicry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009205:Myocarditis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009206:Myocardium / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000276:immunology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001323:Autoantibodies; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D018995:Myosin Heavy Chains