Abstract: Objective: To explore the survival of Chlamydia muridarum in dendritic cells (DCs) and its effect on function of DCs so as to give a basis for immunopathology caused by Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Methods: Bone marrowderived DCs, which were generated from female BALB/c mice were infected by Chlamydia muridarum, and 24 hours and 72 hours later, fix cells were separately stained with the anti-Chlamydia LPS. Cytokines in the supernatants of the DCs were determined by ELISA; DC and T cells were co-cultured 48 hours later, and T cell proliferation was assayed using CCK-8 kit. Results: Chlamydia muridarum survived in DCs and atypical inclusions developed; After infection with Chlamydia muridarum, DCs secreted a high level of IL-12 and a low level of IL-10; DCs also stimulated the T cell proliferation, which illustrated that infected DCs had the ability to present antigens. Conclusions: The cell model of Chlamydia muridarum infecting DCs has been successfully established. After infected by Chlamydia muridarum, DCs still can present antigens.

Key words: Chlamydia trachomatis, Dendritic cell, Mice, Inbred strain BALBC