The role of the Chlamydia pneumoniae protein Pmp21 during infection

In the focus of this project lies the characterization of the molecular interactions of Chlamydia with its human host cell during adhesion of the infectious bacteria to and their subsequent internalization by the host cell. Work progress in this project has revealed that Pmp21 is a bona fide chlamydia adhesin, and a detailed deletion and mutational analysis identified two short, repetitive amino acid motifs (FxxN / GGAI) as being necessary for Pmp21 binding to human cells. Pmp21 is relevant for the infection, recent data show that Pmp6 and Pmp20, two other family members, are also important for adhesion and establishment of infection. In vivo Pmp21 is found in processed forms and first data indicate that these forms interact with each other as well as with other Pmp family members. Furthermore, biochemical and molecular analyses have characterized the putative receptor for Pmp21 on human host cells. It is postulated that chlamydial adhesions channel elementary bodies into subcellular compartments that exclude host effector molecules.The goals within the 2nd funding period are the characterization of the contribution of Pmp21 and of the two newly identified Pmp20 and Pmp6 adhesins and their receptors to the adhesion and internalization process of Chlamydia.

Prof. Dr. Johannes Hegemann,
Institute for Functional Genomics of Microorganisms, Heinrich-Heine-University of Düsseldorf

TP3 in period 2007-2009 (german only)

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