# A spatial transcriptional analsysis of Chlamydia-mediated upper genital tract pathology

> **NIH NIH R21** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $201,250

## Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen. C. trachomatis infections
can ascend to the female upper genital tract (UGT) leading to acute and chronic infections than cause pelvic
inflammatory disease and fallopian tube scarring. These inflammatory pathologies have a large negative
impact on women’s reproductive health. We know remarkably little as to the cellular and molecular processes
underlying acute and chronic infections of the UGT, and how they promote permanent tissue damage even
long after the pathogen has been cleared. Similarly, what role Chlamydia virulence factors play in this process
is largely unknown. In this application we propose to apply emerging transcriptional profiling technologies to
catalogue the cellular and gene expression events from initial infection, to resolution, to fibrotic damage post
bacterial clearance at single cell resolution in the female UGT following a challenge with Chlamydia
muridarum, a mouse adapted Chlamydia sp. In addition, to understand the mechanisms underlying the
emergence of fibrosis and how long-lasting tissue damage that can lead to infertility, we will compare cellular
responses in the UGT and their corresponding single-cell gene expression profiles upon challenges with
Chlamydia mutants that cause altered pathologies. These longitudinal studies will define the types of cells that
drive Chlamydia-dependent inflammatory damage and provide new insight as to how the spatial distribution of
these cells correlate with pathogen clearance and pathology. Furthermore, the proposed studies will provide a
unique resource for the characterization of inflammatory processes and fibrotic damage in an organ of
significant importance for reproductive health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10904668
- **Project number:** 5R21AI173599-02
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Raphael H Valdivia
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $201,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-10 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10904668

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10904668, A spatial transcriptional analsysis of Chlamydia-mediated upper genital tract pathology (5R21AI173599-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10904668. Licensed CC0.

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