Chlamydia bacteria (green), use a dual-function enzyme called ChlaDUB1 to build a shell around themselves with pieces of the host cell’s Golgi apparatus (red).
Credit: Robert Bastidas – Duke University
The bacterium remodels human cells for its own nefarious purposes. When Chlamydia trachomatis, the bacterium that causes one of the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide, infects a human cell, it hijacks parts of the host to build protective layers around itself.
Inside this makeshift fortress, the bug grows and reproduces, eventually bursting out in search of a new target and killing the host cell. While scientists have known for years that Chlamydia protects itself in this way, they were missing the mechanics until now...
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