Chlamydial pathogenic mechanisms and vaccine development

Chlamydia is an obligate intracellular bacterium with a biphasic life cycle. Infection with Chlamydia can cause severe health problems in humans. However, no effective vaccines are available for preventing chlamydial diseases. Furthermore, the chlamydial pathogenic mechanisms are still not very clear although it is widely accepted that the chlamydial ability to survive inside host cells for long periods of time and transmit between cells significantly contributes to the Chlamydia-induced inflammatory pathologies. The research focus in our lab has been to unravel the molecular basis of chlamydial interactions with host cells in order to understand how Chlamydia induces inflammation and achieves persistence. We have recently unraveled novel pathways Chlamydia has exploited to induce inflammatory pathologies and molecular strategies Chlamydia has evolved for manipulating host signaling pathways in order to obtain nutrients from host cells and evade host defense mechanisms. These findings may provide essential information for developing reagents to prevent and block chlamydial infection and Chlamydia-induced pathologies.