Chlamydia infection causes loss of pacemaker cells and inhibits oocyte transport in the mouse oviduct.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydia trachomatis is a common sexually transmitted bacterial infection that results in health care costs in the United States that exceed $2 billion per year. Chlamydia infections cause damage to the oviducts, resulting in ectopic pregnancy and tubal factor infertility, but the reasons for defective oviduct function are poorly understood. We have investigated the role of oviduct contractions in egg transport and found that underlying electrical pacemaker activity is responsible for oviduct motility and egg transport. Specialized pacemaker cells, referred to as oviduct interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC-OVI), are responsible for pacemaker activity. The ICC-OVI, labeled with antibodies to KIT protein, form a dense network associated with the smooth muscle cells along the entire length of t

SUBMITTER: Dixon RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2804825 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature