Chlamydia pneumoniae CPj0783 interaction with Huntingtin-protein14 Authors Izumi Yanatori Department of Molecular Genetics, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan Yumiko Yasui Department of Molecular Genetics, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan Kazunobu Ouchi Department of Pediatrics, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan Fumio Kishi Department of Molecular Genetics, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan Keywords: Chlamydia pneumoniae, intracellular pathogens, yeast two-hybrid screening CPj0783–HIP14, protein mis-sorting, vesicle transport Abstract Chlamydia pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, obligate intracellular pathogen that causes community-acquired respiratory infections. After C. pneumoniae invades host cells, it disturbs the vesicle transport system to escape host lysosomal or autophagosomal degradation. By using a yeast mis-sorting assay, we found 10 C. pneumoniae candidate genes involved in aberrant vesicular trafficking in host cells. One of the candidate genes, CPj0783, was recognized by antibodies from C. pneumoniae-infected patients. The expression of CPj0783 was detected at mid to late-cycle time points and increased during the inclusion maturation. Two-hybrid screening in yeast cells revealed that CPj0783 interacted with Huntingtin-interacting protein 14 (HIP14). The specific interaction between CPj0783 and HIP14 could be demonstrated by an in vivo co-immunoprecipitation assay and an in vitro GST pull-down assay. It was also demonstrated that HIP14 was localized in the Golgi apparatus and colocalized with CPj0783. HIP14 has a palmitoyl transferase activity that is involved in the palmitoylation-dependent vesicular trafficking of several acylated proteins. These findings suggest that CPj0783 might cause abnormal vesicle-mediated transport by interacting with HIP14. [Int Microbiol 18(4):225-233 (2015)]Keywords: Chlamydia pneumoniae · intracellular pathogens · yeast two-hybrid screening CPj0783–HIP14 · protein mis-sorting · vesicle transport Author Biography Izumi Yanatori, Department of Molecular Genetics, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan Department of Molecular Genetics, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 18 No. 4 (2015) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.