Manipulation of the Host Cell Cytoskeleton by Chlamydia.

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular pathogens. They undergo a biphasic developmental cycle differentiating between the infectious but meta-bolically quiescent elementary body and the vegetative, but non-infectious reticulate body. Chlamydia spends a significant portion of its development in the non-infectious stage, demanding an effective strategy of manipulating the host cells to ensure its intracellular survival and replication. A common target of all Chlamydia species studied so far is the host cell cytoskeleton, with past and recent findings revealing crucial roles in invasion, inclusion maintenance, nutrient acquisition, and egress. The molecular details of how Chlamydia co-opts the cytoskeleton is becoming clearer, with bacterial factors and their corresponding host cell targets identified.