Western blot of control, GS15KD, COG8 KD and Rab6 KD HeLa lysates showing the efficiency of KD (A). COG8, GS15 and Rab6 were silenced by transfection of specific siRNAs. Cells were then fixed and stained with GM130 antibody and DAPI. Note that Golgi complex morphology has not been changed dramatically in knock-down cells (B). Down-regulation of COG8, Rab6 and GS15 affects infectious chlamydial yields significantly. HeLa cells were transfected with COG8siRNA, Rab6siRNA, GS15siRNA or control siRNA and infected 48h later with C. trachomatis, serovar D at 0.01 and 0.1 MOI. 48 h post infection, cells were harvested and infectious EBs obtained were determined by infecting a fresh McCoy cells layer and IFU determined. *p<0.05, **p<0.01, *** p<0.001 by one-Way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey multiple comparison between control and specific KDs (C).