title: Chlamydia trachomatis persistence in vitro: an overview.
abstract: Chlamydiae growing in target mucosal human epithelial cells in vitro can transition from their normal developmental cycle progression, alternating between infectious but metabolically inactive elementary bodies to metabolically active but noninfectious reticulate bodies (RBs) and back to elementary bodies, into a state of persistence. Persistence in vitro is defined as viable but noncultivable chlamydiae involving morphologically enlarged, aberrant, and nondividing RBs. The condition is reversible, yielding infectious elementary bodies after removal of the inducers, including penicillin, interferon-gamma, iron or nutrient starvation, concomitant herpes infection, or maturation of the host cell into its physiologically differentiated state. All aberrant RB phenotypes are not the same, owing to differing up- or down-regulated chlamydial gene sets and subsequent host responses. Although all persistence-inducing conditions exist in vivo, key questions include (1) whether or not aberrant chlamydial RBs occur in vivo during the alternating acute-silent chronic-acute chlamydial infection scenario that exists in infected patients and animals and (2) whether such aberrant RBs can contribute to prolonged, chronic inflammation, fibrosis, and scarring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, J H Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614, USA. pbwyrick@mail.etsu.edu
authors.forename: Priscilla B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Wyrick
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000382:microbiology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents
references.citation: Microbiol Rev. 1994 Dec;58(4):686-99
references.pmid: 7854252
references.citation: Microb Pathog. 1997 Mar;22(3):133-42
references.pmid: 9075216
references.citation: J Immunol. 1961 Apr;86:382-5
references.pmid: 13703027
references.citation: Infect Immun. 1997 Nov;65(11):4539-47
references.pmid: 9353031
references.citation: Circulation. 2001 Jan 23;103(3):351-6
references.pmid: 11157684
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1993 Jan 15;106(2):193-200
references.pmid: 8454184
references.citation: Am J Reprod Immunol. 2008 Nov;60(5):415-25
references.pmid: 18798835
references.citation: Infect Immun. 1971 Jun;3(6):825-32
references.pmid: 16558062
references.citation: Infect Immun. 1983 Feb;39(2):898-907
references.pmid: 6832822
references.citation: J Bacteriol. 1970 Jan;101(1):278-85
references.pmid: 5413965
references.citation: Am J Pathol. 1993 Apr;142(4):1291-6
references.pmid: 8475999
references.citation: J Immunol. 1986 Jul 15;137(2):689-92
references.pmid: 3088106
references.citation: Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1987 Apr;156(4):824-33
references.pmid: 3107388
references.citation: J Clin Invest. 2003 Jun;111(11):1757-69
references.pmid: 12782678
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Jul 8;100(14):8478-83
references.pmid: 12815105
references.citation: Infect Immun. 2003 Aug;71(8):4700-10
references.pmid: 12874351
references.citation: Microb Pathog. 2001 Jun;30(6):337-45
references.pmid: 11399140
references.citation: Infect Agents Dis. 1994 Oct;3(5):218-33
references.pmid: 7866655
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 May 1;90(9):3998-4002
references.pmid: 8387206
references.citation: J Antimicrob Chemother. 2004 Jul;54(1):79-85
references.pmid: 15163653
references.citation: FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2008 Oct;54(1):104-13
references.pmid: 18657107
references.citation: Cell Microbiol. 2007 Mar;9(3):725-37
references.pmid: 17140408
references.citation: Infect Immun. 2006 Aug;74(8):4801-8
references.pmid: 16861668
references.citation: Infect Immun. 2007 May;75(5):2374-80
references.pmid: 17307941
references.citation: Cell Microbiol. 2006 Jan;8(1):149-62
references.pmid: 16367874
references.citation: Microb Pathog. 2004 Jan;36(1):35-9
references.pmid: 14643638
references.citation: Infect Immun. 1996 Jun;64(6):1944-9
references.pmid: 8675291
references.citation: JAMA. 1993 Nov 3;270(17):2071-5
references.pmid: 8305018
references.citation: FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2005 Nov;29(5):949-59
references.pmid: 16043254
references.citation: Infect Immun. 2004 Apr;72(4):1843-55
references.pmid: 15039303
references.citation: Infect Immun. 1986 Aug;53(2):347-51
references.pmid: 3089936
references.citation: Br J Vener Dis. 1972 Dec;48(6):437-44
references.pmid: 4651178
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2006 Dec;62(5):1387-401
references.pmid: 17059564
references.citation: JAMA. 1967 Nov 6;202(6):467-73
references.pmid: 4963708
references.citation: Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1966 Jun;122(2):417-21
references.pmid: 5980548
references.citation: Mol Microbiol. 2001 Aug;41(3):731-41
references.pmid: 11532140
references.citation: Sex Transm Dis. 1985 Jan-Mar;12(1):8-13
references.pmid: 4002092
references.citation: PLoS Pathog. 2007 Jun;3(6):e83
references.pmid: 17590080