沙眼衣原体包涵体膜蛋白的研究进展

Progress on Chlamydia trachomatis inclusion membrane proteins

沙眼衣原体(Chlamydia trachomatis,Ct)是一种专性细胞内寄生的革兰阴性病原体,在宿主细胞内增殖形成包涵体,通过包涵体与宿主细胞发生相互作用。包涵体膜蛋白(inclusion membrane proteins,Inc蛋白)是一类定位于衣原体包涵体膜上的含独特双叶片状疏水性基序结构的衣原体蛋白。Inc蛋白广泛存在于衣原体属各个种内,每种衣原体既有各自独特的Inc蛋白,又有其关键Inc蛋白同系物,基于生物信息学方法,预测Ct有59个Inc蛋白。Inc蛋白在衣原体与宿主细胞相互作用过程中发挥重要作用。在过去的十年内,鉴定Inc蛋白并对其功能进行研究受到了重视,但对于Inc蛋白的功能仍知之甚少。衣原体基因操控技术的应用,推动了Inc蛋白等衣原体单个蛋白的功能研究。现就Ct Inc蛋白的鉴定及其功能研究进展作一概述。

Chlamydia trachomatis is a Gram-negative obligate intracellular pathogen,which occupies a membrane-bound vacuole termed the inclusion throughout its developmental cycle. Inclusion membrane proteins（ Inc proteins） are initially defined as chlamydial proteins that localized to the inclusion membrane during infection and exposed to the host cytosol and are characterized by a common secondary structural feature of a bilobed hydrophobic domain. There is a notable diversity in Inc proteins encoded by the different chlamydial species. Moreover,each chlamydial species contains a number of unique Inc proteins. Based on the bioinformatics methods,there are 59 predicted Inc proteins. Inc proteins are expected to promote inclusion interaction with host factors and organelles. More attention had been given to identify and characterize Inc proteins,but little is known about Inc proteins function or host interacting partners. With the development of genetic manipulation of Chlamydia,the study on the function of individual chlamydial protein has been enhanced. In this review,we summarize the recent progresses on Chlamydia trachomatis Inc proteins.