title: Chlamydial antiapoptotic activity involves activation of the Raf/MEK/ERK survival pathway.
abstract: Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that cause variety of human diseases. Chlamydia-infected host cells are profoundly resistant to apoptosis induced by many different apoptotic stimuli. The inhibition of apoptosis is thought to be an important immune escape mechanism allowing chlamydiae to productively complete their obligate intracellular growth cycle. Infection with chlamydiae can activate the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. Because the survival pathway can modulate apoptosis, we used MEK-specific inhibitor U0126 and Raf-specific inhibitor GW5074 to examine the role of Raf/MEK/ERK pathway in chlamydial antiapoptotic activity. Apoptosis was induced by staurosporine (STS) and detected by morphology, DNA fragmentation, caspase-3 activation, and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage. Inhibition of the pathway sensitized Chlamydia-infected cells to STS-mediated cell apoptosis. The data indicate that chlamydial antiapoptotic activity involves activation of the Raf/MEK/ERK survival pathway.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China. dukun818110@163.com
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Qun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: LiSha
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ai
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D002689:Chlamydia / Q000502:physiology*; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D048490:raf Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D048490:raf Kinases; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases