Identification of an iron-responsive protein that is antigenic in patients with Chlamydia trachomatis genital infections.

Chlamydia trachomatis is an important cause of immune-mediated damage to the reproductive tract of infected patients. Certain chlamydial antigens and host genetic factors have been identified as contributing to immunopathological events, but a comprehensive understanding of specific components involved in destructive vs. protective immune responses to chlamydial infections is far from clear. In this study, it is shown that C. trachomatis-infected patients generate antibodies against an iron-responsive chlamydial protein, YtgA. The identity of YtgA was confirmed by mass spectrometry following two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and Western blot analysis. This finding underscores a necessity to examine patient sera samples to identify chlamydial antigens that are likely encountered and important to the immune response during human infections.