Analysis of gene expression in penicillin G induced persistence of Chlamydia pneumoniae

Chlamydia pneumoniae is responsible for respiratory tract infections and has been associated to chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis. The involvement of C. pneumoniae in chronic diseases may be correlated to its ability to induce persistent forms in which Chlamydiae remain viable but are not cultivable. The aim of our study is to investigate C. pneumoniae specific gene activities associated with the development of Chlamydial persistence in a cell culture system in the presence of penicillin G. Chlamydia-infected HEp 2 cells were incubated with or without penicillin G for up to 72 hours. The relative mRNA expression levels of early and late genes in treated and untreated cell cultures were determined by Real-time RT-PCR. Our results revealed a consistent down-regulation of Chlamydial hctA and hctB genes (p=0.012 and p=0.003 respectively) in association with up-regulation of htrA gene (p=0.002) during penicillin G-induced persistence suggesting these gene sets as leading candidate for in vivo investigation of the development of persistent Chlamydial infection. In conclusion, the Chlamydial expression pattern of hctA, hctB, and htrA genes may be helpful to identify target molecules to diagnose and treat Chlamydia-associated chronic diseases.