The key to removing chlamydia infection from the human body

In order to enter the cell and multiply peacefully, many pathogenic bacteria, including chlamydia, hide themselves in a piece of the cell membrane, forming free-floating bubbles within the cell, called vacuoles, or chlamydia inclusions

A Team from Duke, led by graduate student Stephen Walsh and Jörn Coers, Ph.

"We knew there was potential to kill Chlamydia, but when we did experiments with Chlamydia trachomatis suitable for humans, it was well suited to growing in human cell cultures," Coers said

Using a mouse-friendly chlamydia bacterium in human cells, they conducted experiments again to see how the cell's immune system responds to non-human pathogens

"Humans don't infect Chlamydia because it evolved with mice, and human Chlamydia evolved with humans," Coers said

Coers said: "Chlamydia is so good at escaping human reactions

The evolutionary arms race between the immune system and pathogens has been going on for millions of years

In collaboration with Colleagues Raphael Valdivia and Robert Bastidas at Duke MGM University, the researchers conducted a large-scale genetic screening of chlamydia and found a protein, GarD (Gamma Resistance Determinant), that appears to block the ability of

The mutated GarD gene makes bacteria vulnerable

The inside of the cell is filled with these small bubbles consisting of membrane-covered vacuoles; Most are friends, but some are enemies, such as chlamydia inclusions

Coers said: "There are many different types of membranes and vacuoles

Unfortunately, that's the whole story going on so far, Coers said

Coers said: "If you can find a mechanism to inactivate GarD, then you can convert human chlamydia into mouse chlamydia

Each year, 200,000 Americans have new chlamydia infections, often asymptomatic for months or even years, but can be transmitted

Stephen C.