Cytoskeletal requirements in Chlamydia trachomatis infection of host cells

Infection of genital epithelial cells by the closely related sexually transmitted pathogens Chlamydia trachomatis serovars E and L2 results in different clinical disease manifestations. Following entry into target host cells, individual vesicles containing chlamydiae fuse with one another to form one large inclusion. At the cellular level, the only obvious difference between these serovars is the time until inclusion maturation, which is 48 h for the invasive serovar L2 and 72 h for serovar E. To begin to define the intracellular events of these pathogens, the effect of cytoskeletal disruption on early endosome fusion and inclusion development in epithelial (HEC-1B) and fibroblast (McCoy) cells was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy. Disruption of microfilaments with cytochalasin D markedly reduced serovar E, but not serovar L2, infection of both cell lines. Conversely, microfilament as well as microtubule disruption, with colchicine or nocodazole, had no effect on serovar E inclusion development but resulted in the formation of multiple serovar L2 inclusions per cell during early and mid-development. Later in serovar L2 inclusion development (> 36 h postinfection), vesicles containing chlamydiae fused to form one large inclusion in the absence of an intact cytoskeleton. These results imply that (i) C. trachomatis serovar E may utilize a different pathway for uptake and development from serovar L2; (ii) these differences are consistent in both epithelial cells and fibroblasts; and (iii) the cytoskeleton plays a unique role in the infection of host cells by these two genital pathogens.