FIG 3.

Chlamydia trachomatis infects polarized FTE cells and completes its developmental cycle. Primary human polarized FTE cells were infected with CTE3024-mCherry (MOI = 10). (A) Immunofluorescent microscopy of a representative culture stained with DAPI (blue), phalloidin (white), antichlamydial lipopolysaccharide (LPS; red), and anti-α-tubulin (green) 48 h postinfection. (B) Percentage of infected cells was determined by flow cytometry. Concatenated flow cytometry dot plots of mock-infected (left) or infected (right) cultures measuring mCherry expression 48 h postinfection. N = 3 donors. Percentages in gate are ± standard deviation (SD). (C) Developmental cycles were observed by TEM at 24, 48, or 72 h postinfection. Arrows indicate elementary bodies (black), reticulate bodies (white), or dividing reticulate bodies (red). (D) Polarized FTE (N = 5 donors) or L929 monolayers (N = 2) were infected with CTE3024-mCherry. Total RNA was harvested 24 h after infection, and cDNAs were generated, then assayed by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Data were normalized to omcA, and gene expression is shown relative to that of L929 cells. Statistical analysis was performed using ANOVA and Sidak’s multiple comparisons. *, P < 0.05.