A Chlamydia pneumoniae infection model using established human lymphocyte cell lines

Abstract

Since current studies indicate possible infection of human lymphocytes with Chlamydia (Chlamydophila) pneumoniae, establishment of an in vitro C. pneumoniae infection model using lymphocyte cell lines was demonstrated. Human lymphoid cell lines (Molt 4 [T-cell] and P3HR1 [B-cell]) were utilized for this purpose besides human monocyte cell line (THP-1) and human epithelial cell line (HEp-2), as a reference of monocyte/macrophage cells and a positive control for support of C. pneumoniae growth, respectively. Both lymphoid cells (Molt 4 and P3HR1) supported the growth of C. pneumoniae as demonstrated by Chlamydia inclusion formation, detection of increased infective progenies and increased bacterial antigen levels. Similar data were obtained using monocyte THP-1 cells. However, the bacterial growth in these cells was less than that in HEp-2 cells. The electron microscopic study showed typical inclusions with many Chlamydia elementary bodies in lymphoid cells tested, similar to that seen in HEp-2 cells. These results indicate that C. pneumoniae can infect cells with lymphocyte properties and this infection model with lymphoid cell line cells could be valuable to study details of lymphocyte^C. pneumoniae interaction.

Chlamydia pneumoniae Resists Antibiotics in Lymphocytes

“…The model of established lymphoid cell lines infected with C. pneumoniae used in this study was established by Yamaguchi et al (27). The growth of C. pneumoniae in all of the cells used in this study was well supported, with more than 10-fold increases in infective progenies in THP-1, Molt 4, and P3HR1 cells and more than a 100-fold increase in infective progenies in HEp-2 cells during culturing for 3 days.…”

Chlamydia trachomatis serovar L2 infection model using human lymphoid Jurkat cells

“…trachomatis, could infect and multiply in the human lymphocyte cell line Molt-4 and mouse spleen lymphocytes, thereby completing its developmental cycle [16,17].…”

“…TEM was performed in accordance with a method described previously [17]. In brief, bacterial cultures were immersed in a fixative containing 3% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M PBS pH 7.4, for 24 h at 4 °C.…”

Chlamydophila pneumoniae attachment and infection in low proteoglycan expressing human lymphoid Jurkat cells

“…Maturation further occurs in the surrounding plasma membrane known as an inclusion [11][12][13]. Recently, our studies demonstrated that C. pneumoniae can infect and multiply in the human lymphocyte cell line Molt-4 and mouse spleen lymphocytes [14,15]. Furthermore, Kaul et al reported C. pneumoniae DNA in peripheral blood leukocytes obtained from cardiology patients [16].…”