The Mip-like protein of Chlamydia trachomatis has sequence similarity with both the Mip protein of Legionella pneumophila, a virulence factor necessary for optimal intracellular infection, and FK506-binding proteins (FKBPs) of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin. FKBPs contain a site for peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity, which is blocked upon binding of the drugs, FK506 or rapamycin. In this paper we report that the recombinant chlamydial Mip-like protein exhibits a peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerase activity which is inhibited by either rapamycin or FK506. To assess the role of the Mip-like protein in chlamydial infection, rapamycin or FK506 (25 microM), were used in either treatment of chlamydial organisms prior to inoculation, or were present at different intervals through the infection. Pretreatment of organisms alone reduced infectivity for McCoy cells by 30%, with inhibition rising to 80% on more prolonged exposure from 0 to 8h and 8 to 16h post-inoculation and declining thereafter. When drug was present during the developmental cycle at intervals from 0 to 24h post-inoculation abnormal chlamydiae were induced in residual inclusions. The results suggest that inhibition of the isomerase of the Mip-like protein interferes with one or more early events in the infective process that determine productive intracellular infection.

The gene encoding the Chlamydia trachomatis histone H1-like protein (Hcl)

Purified elementary bodies (EBs) of Chlamydia trachomatis serovar L2 were analyzed by chemical cross-linking with disuccinimidyl selenodipropionate. The effect of the cross-linking was analyzed by immunoblotting sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis-separated components which were reacted with monoclonal antibodies against major outer membrane protein (MOMP) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). It was shown that in EBs, MOMP was cross-linked to the LPS component of the outer membrane. Migration analysis of the cross-linked components showed that with extensive cross-linking, most of the MOMP became cross-linked to LPS, changing the migration rate from 40 to 42.5 kilodaltons. A small fraction of MOMP associated with LPS was shown to be present in bands with migration rates of 100 and 110 kilodaltons. No association of MOMP or LPS to other proteins, or to dimer or multimer forms of MOMP without LPS, was observed. A totally different membrane structure must be present in reticulate bodies, since there, MOMP was so heavily cross-linked that it did not enter the polyacrylamide gel and thus became impossible to analyze. Furthermore, the monoclonal antibody, which reacted with LPS associated with MOMP in the cross-linked EBs, did not react with reticulate bodies.

The metabolic and mitogenic potencies of six different insulin analogues were determined by measuring glucose transport in primary adipocytes and DNA synthesis in CHO cells respectively. Three analogues showed a disproportionately high mitogenic potency compared with their metabolic potency, and were up to 7 times more mitogenically than metabolically potent when compared with human insulin. The mitogenic\metabolic potency ratio of the analogues was found to be inversely correlated with the insulin receptor dissociation rate constant (K d ) in an exponential fashion (r l 0.99), with a disproportionately greater increase in mitogenic potential compared with metabolic potential for analogues with K d values of less than 40 % of that of human insulin. To investigate the molecular mechanisms behind