Chlamydia trachomatis is the leading cause of sexually transmitted bacterial disease and a global health burden. As an obligate intracellular pathogen, Chlamydia has evolved many strategies to manipulate its host and establish its intracellular niche called the inclusion. C. trachomatis reorganizes the host actin cytoskeleton to form scaffolds around the inclusion and reinforce the growing inclusion membrane. To control the kinetics and formation of actin scaffolds, Chlamydia expresses the effector InaC/CT813, which activates the host GTPase RhoA. Here, we have discovered that InaC stabilizes actin scaffolds through the host actin cross-linking proteins α-actinins 1 and 4. We demonstrate that α-actinins are recruited to the inclusion membrane in an InaC-dependent manner and associate with actin scaffolds that envelop the inclusion. Small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of α-actinins differentially regulate the frequency of actin scaffolds and impair inclusion stability, leaving them susceptible to rupture and to nonionic detergent extraction. Overall, our data identify new host effectors that are subverted by InaC to stabilize actin scaffolds, highlighting the versatility of InaC as a key regulator of the host cytoskeletal network during Chlamydia infection. IMPORTANCE Despite antibiotics, recurrent C. trachomatis infections cause significant damage to the genital tract in men and women. Without a preventative vaccine, it is paramount to understand the virulence mechanisms that Chlamydia employs to cause disease. In this context, manipulation of the host cytoskeleton is a critical component of Chlamydia development. Actin scaffolds reinforce the integrity of Chlamydia's infectious vacuole, which is a critical barrier between Chlamydia and the host environment. Having previously established that InaC co-opts RhoA to promote the formation of actin scaffolds around the inclusion, we now show that Chlamydia hijacks a new class of host effectors, α-actinins, to cross-link these scaffolds and further stabilize the inclusion. We also establish that a core function of the chlamydial effector InaC is the regulation of cytoskeletal stability during Chlamydia infection. Ultimately, this work expands our understanding of how bacterial pathogens subvert the actin cytoskeleton by targeting fundamental host effector proteins.
Keywords: Chlamydia trachomatis; actin; actin-binding proteins; cytoskeleton; host-pathogen interactions.