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Transcriptional regulation of the Chlamydia heat shock stress response in an intracellular infection.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria encode heat shock proteins that aid in survival during stressful growth conditions. In addition, the major heat shock proteins of the intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis have been associated with immune pathology and disease. We developed a ChIP-qPCR method to study the regulation of chlamydial heat shock gene regulation during an intracellular infection. This approach allowed us to show that chlamydial heat shock genes are regulated by the transcription factor HrcA within an infected cell, providing validation for previous in vitro findings. Induction of chlamydial heat shock gene expression by elevated temperature was due to loss of HrcA binding to heat shock promoters, supporting a mechanism of derepression. This heat shock response was rapid, whereas recovery of HrcA binding and return to non-stress transcript levels occurred more slowly. We also found that control of heat shock gene expression was differentially regulated over the course of the intracellular Chlamydia infection. There was evidence of HrcA-mediated regulation of heat shock genes throughout the chlamydial developmental cycle, but the level of repression was lower at early times. This is the first study of Chlamydia-infected cells showing the effect of an environmental signal on transcription factor-DNA binding and target gene expression in the bacterium.

SUBMITTER: Hanson BR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4813507 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Transcriptional regulation of the Chlamydia heat shock stress response in an intracellular infection.

Hanson Brett R BR Tan Ming M

Molecular microbiology 20150704 6

Bacteria encode heat shock proteins that aid in survival during stressful growth conditions. In addition, the major heat shock proteins of the intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis have been associated with immune pathology and disease. We developed a ChIP-qPCR method to study the regulation of chlamydial heat shock gene regulation during an intracellular infection. This approach allowed us to show that chlamydial heat shock genes are regulated by the transcription factor HrcA within an ...[more]

PMID: 26075961

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Project description:Cells reprogram their transcriptome in response to stress, such as heat shock. In free-living bacteria, the transcriptomic reprogramming is mediated by increased DNA-binding activity of heat shock sigma factors and activation of genes normally repressed by heat-induced transcription factors. In this study, we performed transcriptomic analyses to investigate heat shock response in the obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, whose genome encodes only three sigma factors and a single heat-induced transcription factor. Nearly one-third of C. trachomatis genes showed statistically significant (≥1.5-fold) expression changes 30 min after shifting from 37 to 45°C. Notably, chromosomal genes encoding chaperones, energy metabolism enzymes, type III secretion proteins, as well as most plasmid-encoded genes, were differentially upregulated. In contrast, genes with functions in protein synthesis were disproportionately downregulated. These findings suggest that facilitating protein folding, increasing energy production, manipulating host activities, upregulating plasmid-encoded gene expression, and decreasing general protein synthesis helps facilitate C. trachomatis survival under stress. In addition to relieving negative regulation by the heat-inducible transcriptional repressor HrcA, heat shock upregulated the chlamydial primary sigma factor σ66 and an alternative sigma factor σ28. Interestingly, we show for the first time that heat shock downregulates the other alternative sigma factor σ54 in a bacterium. Downregulation of σ54 was accompanied by increased expression of the σ54 RNA polymerase activator AtoC, thus suggesting a unique regulatory mechanism for reestablishing normal expression of select σ54 target genes. Taken together, our findings reveal that C. trachomatis utilizes multiple novel survival strategies to cope with environmental stress and even to replicate. Future strategies that can specifically target and disrupt Chlamydia's heat shock response will likely be of therapeutic value.

Dataset Information

Transcriptional regulation of the Chlamydia heat shock stress response in an intracellular infection.

Publications

Transcriptional regulation of the Chlamydia heat shock stress response in an intracellular infection.

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