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Chlamydia
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Chlamydial species cause a wide range of diseases in both animals and humans. Of particular concern is Chlamydia trachomatis, an obligatory intracellular bacterium, which infects and multiplies in epithelial cells. It is the most frequent cause of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in developed countries and is the most common cause of preventable blindness in developing countries, with an estimated 90 million new cases each year worldwide.
The duration of untreated Chlamydia STD is prolonged, and complete clearance is often not achieved within the first 12 months. The protective immunity induced during the infection is for mediated by antibodies and IFN- secreted by T cells. This immunity however is serovariant-specific and short-lived, thus allowing frequent re-infections. These circumstances, the prolonged course of infection and possible re-infections may lead to the development of serious sequelae, including pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancies.
The infection can be effectively controlled by antibiotic therapy; however the high prevalence of asymptomatic cases suggests that sustainable Chlamydia control can only be envisaged if an effective Chlamydia vaccine is developed. While much effort has been devoted to a vaccine against Chlamydia infections over the last few decades, so far no successful vaccine has been developed.
The Chlamydia research group is conducting research encompassing immunological aspects of the human and murine chlamydia infections. As part of these activities the group is running an extensive antigen discovery program involving the newest technologies in the field, such as genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and high throughput cloning, expression and immunological testing of vaccine candidates. The aim of this programme is to identify novel Chlamydia antigens, either recognized by antibodies and/or which stimulate specific T cells to secrete IFN-.
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Figure: Chlamydia- (green) in infected cells (red) |
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These investigations have led to the identification of several antigens, which are specifically recognized in patients with urogenital infection. Selected antigens will be further characterized with regard to immunogenicity in small rodent models of the disease and detailed mapping of antigenic determinants will be done. |
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