Poster Presentation Lorne Infection and Immunity 2023

Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect human glial cells and modulate metabolism-related gene expressions (#124)

Ali Delbaz 1 2 3 , Todd Shelper 1 2 3 , Souptik Basu 1 2 3 , Linh Nguyen 1 2 3 , Amy McEwen 1 2 3 , Kyle Mathew Hatton-Jones 2 3 , James Sinclair 2 3 , Nicholas West 2 3 , James St John 1 2 3 , Jenny Ekberg 1 2 3
  1. Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
  2. Menzies Health Institute Queensland , Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
  3. Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia

Neurodegenerative diseases are the leading cause of disability-adjusted-life-years (DALYs) globally. The infectious hypothesis has been proposed as one of the underlying causes of certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Respiratory pathogens including intracellular bacteria Chlamydia pneumoniae may infiltrate the central nervous system (CNS) via the nasal cavity and initiate a cascade of host inflammatory responses over the lifetime of a patient. This hypothesis is supported by several studies which have found the presence of pathogens more commonly in the CNS of AD patients.

Beside the well described characteristics of profuse neurofibrillary tangles and Aβ deposits, metabolic dysfunction is a core feature of different types of neurogenerative diseases, including AD. Thus, early detection of the metabolic changes in glial cells (crucial support cells in the brain), may reflect the role of infection determinants in contribution to the neurodegenerative diseases such as AD.

Objectives: To determine whether C.pneumoniae could infect human glial cells and alter metabolism-related genes expressions.

Methods: Infected human glial cells (Astrocytes and microglia) after 24h, 48h and 72h were imaged using widefield microscope. CellProfiler was used to determine infection by detecting the presence of inclusion bodies. Nanostring metabolism gene panel (for humans) was used to study 770 metabolism-related genes from these infected human glial cells. Data analyses was performed using web-based Rosalind bioinformatic, eClustvis tool and Morpheus software.

Results: C.pneumoniae can infect human glial cells which is comparable to our previously established results on mouse models . We have also showed that bacterial infection was able to regulate the genes related to host cell metabolism such as lipid, amino acids, and carbohydrates at transcription level in different stages of acute infection.

Conclusion: This study shows that C.pneumoniae can infect human CNS glial cells, and that the bacteria can alter the host metabolism-related genes.