title: Expansion of the Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion does not require bacterial replication.
abstract: Chlamydia trachomatis replication takes place inside of a host cell, exclusively within a vacuole known as the inclusion. During an infection, the inclusion expands to accommodate the increasing numbers of C. trachomatis. However, whether inclusion expansion requires bacterial replication and/or de novo protein synthesis has not been previously investigated in detail. Therefore, using a chemical biology approach, we herein investigated C. trachomatis inclusion expansion under varying conditions in vitro. Under normal cell culture conditions, inclusion expansion correlated with C. trachomatis replication. When bacterial replication was inhibited using KSK120, an inhibitor that targets C. trachomatis glucose metabolism, inclusions expanded even in the absence of bacterial replication. In contrast, when bacterial protein synthesis was inhibited using chloramphenicol, expansion of inclusions was blocked. Together, these data suggest that de novo protein synthesis is necessary, whereas bacterial replication is dispensable for C. trachomatis inclusion expansion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA. Electronic address: pengstrom@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Patrik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Engström
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Malin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA.
authors.forename: Astrid C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Alfaro
authors.affiliation: Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Syam Krishnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Wael
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bahnan
authors.affiliation: Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Fredrik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Almqvist
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Laboratory for Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden (MIMS), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Centre for Microbial Research (UCMR), Umeå University, SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergström
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000382:microbiology; D004261:DNA Replication; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Bacterial replication; Chemical biology; Chlamydia trachomatis; Inclusion expansion