{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T20:09:46Z","timestamp":1793822986926,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,4]],"date-time":"2021-01-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1609718400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,4]],"date-time":"2021-01-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1609718400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Microbiol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      is the most common sexually transmitted infection and the bacterial agent of trachoma globally.\n                      <jats:italic>C. trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      undergoes a biphasic developmental cycle involving an infectious elementary body and a replicative reticulate body. Little is currently known about the gene expression dynamics of host cell mRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNAs at different stages of\n                      <jats:italic>C. trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      development.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Here, we performed RNA-seq and miR-seq on HeLa cells infected with\n                      <jats:italic>C. trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      serovar E at 20\u2009h post-infection (hpi) and 44 hpi with or without IFN-\u03b3 treatment. Our study identified and validated differentially expressed host cell mRNAs, lncRNAs, and miRNAs during infection. Host cells at 20 hpi showed the most differential upregulation of both coding and non-coding genes while at 44 hpi in the presence of IFN-\u03b3 resulted in a dramatic downregulation of a large proportion of host genes. Using RT-qPCR, we validated the top 5 upregulated mRNAs and miRNAs, which are specific for different stages of\n                      <jats:italic>C. trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      development. One of the commonly expressed miRNAs at all three stages of\n                      <jats:italic>C. trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      development, miR-193b-5p, showed significant expression in clinical serum samples of\n                      <jats:italic>C. trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                      -infected patients as compared to sera from healthy controls and HIV-1-infected patients. Furthermore, we observed significant upregulation of antigen processing and presentation, and T helper cell differentiation pathways at 20 hpi whereas T cell receptor, mTOR, and Rap1 pathways were modulated at 44 hpi. Treatment with IFN-\u03b3 at 44 hpi showed the upregulation of cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, FoxO signaling, and Ras signaling pathways.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our study documented transcriptional manipulation of the host cell genomes and the upregulation of stage-specific signaling pathways necessary for the survival of the pathogen and could serve as potential biomarkers in the diagnosis and management of the disease.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12866-020-02061-6","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,4]],"date-time":"2021-01-04T09:04:16Z","timestamp":1609751056000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Host cell response and distinct gene expression profiles at different stages of Chlamydia trachomatis infection reveals stage-specific biomarkers of infection"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Emmanuel Enoch","family":"Dzakah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liping","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaohua","family":"Xue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shuai","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaolin","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongliang","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingwei","family":"Shui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Foster","family":"Kyei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Farooq","family":"Rashid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heping","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bing","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shixing","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"2061_CR1","volume-title":"Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), fact sheet. World Health Organization","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2016","unstructured":"World Health Organization. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), fact sheet. World Health Organization. 2016. https:\/\/www.who.int\/en\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/sexually-transmitted-infections-(stis). Accessed 20 Jun 2020."},{"key":"2061_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bjid.2012.06.023","volume":"16","author":"LC Silva","year":"2012","unstructured":"Silva LC, Miranda AE, Batalha RS, Sabino CC, Dib E, Talhari S. Chlamydia trachomatis infection among HIV-infected women attending an AIDS clinic in the city of Manaus, Brazil. Braz J Infect Dis. 2012;16:335\u20138.","journal-title":"Braz J Infect Dis"},{"key":"2061_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1038\/nri1551","volume":"2","author":"RC Brunham","year":"2005","unstructured":"Brunham RC, Rey-Ladino J. Immunology of chlamydia infection: implications for a chlamydia trachomatis vaccine. Nat Rev Immunol. 2005;2:149\u201361.","journal-title":"Nat Rev Immunol"},{"key":"2061_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.3109\/07853890.2010.546365","volume":"44","author":"J Paavonen","year":"2012","unstructured":"Paavonen J. Chlamydia trachomatis infections of the female genital tract: state of the art. Ann Med. 2012;44:18\u201328.","journal-title":"Ann Med"},{"key":"2061_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"949","DOI":"10.1016\/j.femsre.2005.03.002","volume":"29","author":"YM Abdelrahman","year":"2005","unstructured":"Abdelrahman YM, Belland RJ. The chlamydial developmental cycle. FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2005;29:949\u201359.","journal-title":"FEMS Microbiol Rev"},{"key":"2061_CR6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"a010256","DOI":"10.1101\/cshperspect.a010256","volume":"3","author":"RJ Bastidas","year":"2013","unstructured":"Bastidas RJ, Elwell CA, Engel JN, Valdivia RH. Chlamydial intracellular survival strategies. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2013;3:a010256.","journal-title":"Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med"},{"key":"2061_CR7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3705","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.62.9.3705-3711.1994","volume":"62","author":"WL Beatty","year":"1994","unstructured":"Beatty WL, Belanger TA, Desai AA, Morrison RPBG. Tryptophan depletion as a mechanism of gamma interferon-mediated chlamydial persistence. Infect Immun. 1994;62:3705\u2013511.","journal-title":"Infect Immun"},{"key":"2061_CR8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"649","DOI":"10.1016\/j.micinf.2011.03.004","volume":"13","author":"RV Schoborg","year":"2011","unstructured":"Schoborg RV. Chlamydia persistence - a tool to dissect chlamydia-host interactions. Microbes Infect. 2011;13:649\u201362.","journal-title":"Microbes Infect"},{"key":"2061_CR9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"385","DOI":"10.1038\/nrmicro.2016.30","volume":"14","author":"C Elwell","year":"2016","unstructured":"Elwell C, Mirrashidi K, Engel J. Chlamydia cell biology and pathogenesis. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2016;14:385\u2013400.","journal-title":"Nat Rev Microbiol"},{"key":"2061_CR10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e12993","DOI":"10.1111\/cmi.12993","volume":"21","author":"M Ohmer","year":"2019","unstructured":"Ohmer M, Tzivelekidis T, Niedenfuhr N, Volceanov-Hahn L, Barth S, Vier J, et al. Infection of HeLa cells with chlamydia trachomatis inhibits protein synthesis and causes multiple changes to host cell pathways. Cell Microbiol. 2019;21:e12993.","journal-title":"Cell Microbiol"},{"key":"2061_CR11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"509","DOI":"10.2217\/fmb.14.13","volume":"9","author":"N Kading","year":"2014","unstructured":"Kading N, Szaszak M, Rupp J. Imaging of chlamydia and host cell metabolism. Future Microbiol. 2014;9:509\u201321.","journal-title":"Future Microbiol"},{"key":"2061_CR12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"95","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cyto.2018.05.039","volume":"112","author":"K Shima","year":"2018","unstructured":"Shima K, Kaeding N, Ogunsulire IM, Kaufhold I, Klinger M, Rupp J. Interferon-\u03b3 interferes with host cell metabolism during intracellular chlamydia trachomatis infection. Cytokine. 2018;112:95\u2013101.","journal-title":"Cytokine."},{"key":"2061_CR13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2441","DOI":"10.4049\/jimmunol.1103032","volume":"189","author":"DC Gondek","year":"2012","unstructured":"Gondek DC, Olive AJ, Stary G, Starnbach MN. CD4+ T cells are necessary and sufficient to confer protection against chlamydia trachomatis infection in the murine upper genital tract. J Immunol. 2012;189:2441\u20139.","journal-title":"J Immunol"},{"key":"2061_CR14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1313","DOI":"10.4049\/jimmunol.0900295","volume":"183","author":"DC Gondek","year":"2009","unstructured":"Gondek DC, Roan NR, Starnbach MN. T cell responses in the absence of IFN-gamma exacerbate uterine infection with chlamydia trachomatis. J Immunol. 2009;183:1313\u20139.","journal-title":"J Immunol"},{"key":"2061_CR15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1016\/j.mib.2008.01.003","volume":"11","author":"RH Valdivia","year":"2008","unstructured":"Valdivia RH. Chlamydia effector proteins and new insights into chlamydial cellular microbiology. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2008;11:53\u20139.","journal-title":"Curr Opin Microbiol"},{"key":"2061_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1185","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2958.2011.07877.x","volume":"82","author":"HA Saka","year":"2011","unstructured":"Saka HA, Thompson JW, Chen YS, Kumar Y, Dubois LG, Moseley MA, Valdivia RH. Quantitative proteomics reveals metabolic and pathogenic properties of chlamydia trachomatis developmental forms. Mol Microbiol. 2011;82:1185\u2013203.","journal-title":"Mol Microbiol"},{"key":"2061_CR17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15971","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2535394100","volume":"100","author":"RJ Belland","year":"2003","unstructured":"Belland RJ, Nelson DE, Virok D, Crane DD, Hogan D, Sturdevant D, Beatty WL, Caldwell HD. Transcriptome analysis of chlamydial growth during IFN-gamma-mediated persistence and reactivation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003;100:15971\u20136.","journal-title":"Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A"},{"key":"2061_CR18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"868","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkp1032","volume":"38","author":"M Albrecht","year":"2010","unstructured":"Albrecht M, Sharma CM, Reinhardt R, Vogel J, Rudel T. Deep sequencing-based discovery of the chlamydia trachomatis transcriptome. Nucleic Acids Res. 2010;38:868\u201377.","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res"},{"key":"2061_CR19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1843","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkq1065","volume":"39","author":"YM Abdelrahman","year":"2011","unstructured":"Abdelrahman YM, Rose LA, Belland RJ. Developmental expression of non-coding RNAs in chlamydia trachomatis during normal and persistent growth. Nucleic Acids Res. 2011;39:1843\u201354.","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res"},{"key":"2061_CR20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"534","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.02764-14","volume":"83","author":"SF Porcella","year":"2015","unstructured":"Porcella SF, Carlson JH, Sturdevant DE, Sturdevant GL, Kanakabandi K, Virtaneva K, et al. Transcriptional profiling of human epithelial cells infected with plasmid-bearing and plasmid-deficient Chlamydia trachomatis. Infect Immun. 2015;83:534\u201343.","journal-title":"Infect Immun"},{"key":"2061_CR21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e80597","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0080597","volume":"8","author":"MS Humphrys","year":"2013","unstructured":"Humphrys MS, Creasy T, Sun Y, Shetty AC, Chibucos MC, Drabek EF. Simultaneous transcriptional profiling of Bacteria and their host cells. PLoS One. 2013;8:e80597.","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"2061_CR22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2278","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1462-5822.2007.00958.x","volume":"9","author":"RA Carabeo","year":"2007","unstructured":"Carabeo RA, Dooley CA, Grieshaber SS, Hackstadt T. Rac interacts with Abi-1 and WAVE2 to promote an Arp2\/3-dependent actin recruitment during chlamydial invasion. Cell Microbiol. 2007;9:2278\u201388.","journal-title":"Cell Microbiol"},{"key":"2061_CR23","first-page":"456","volume":"215","author":"Z George","year":"2017","unstructured":"George Z, Omosun Y, Azenabor AA, Partin J, Joseph K, Ellerson D, et al. The roles of unfolded protein response pathways in chlamydia pathogenesis. J Infect Dis. 2017;215:456\u201365.","journal-title":"J Infect Dis"},{"key":"2061_CR24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"755","DOI":"10.3233\/JAD-150619","volume":"49","author":"HZ Wu","year":"2016","unstructured":"Wu HZ, Ong KL, Seeher K, Armstrong NJ, Thalamuthu A, Brodaty H, et al. Circulating microRNAs as biomarkers of Alzheimer\u2019s disease: a systematic review. J Alzheimers Dis. 2016;49:755\u201366.","journal-title":"J Alzheimers Dis"},{"key":"2061_CR25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"391","DOI":"10.1038\/nrrheum.2010.81","volume":"6","author":"I Alevizos","year":"2010","unstructured":"Alevizos I, Illei GG. MicroRNAs as biomarkers in rheumatic diseases. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2010;6:391\u20138.","journal-title":"Nat Rev Rheumatol"},{"key":"2061_CR26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"28148","DOI":"10.1038\/srep28148","volume":"6","author":"M Bhomia","year":"2016","unstructured":"Bhomia M, Balakathiresan NS, Wang KK, Papa L, Maheshwari RK. A panel of serum MiRNA biomarkers for the diagnosis of severe to mild traumatic brain injury in humans. Sci Rep. 2016;6:28148.","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"2061_CR27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e35","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gks967","volume":"41","author":"X Guo","year":"2013","unstructured":"Guo X, Gao L, Liao Q. Long non-coding RNAs function annotation: a global prediction method based on bi-colored networks. Nucleic Acids Res. 2013;41:e35.","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res"},{"key":"2061_CR28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.canlet.2018.01.042","volume":"418","author":"L Chen","year":"2018","unstructured":"Chen L, Dzakah EE, Shan G. Targetable long non-coding RNAs in cancer treatments. Cancer Lett. 2018;418:119\u201324.","journal-title":"Cancer Lett"},{"key":"2061_CR29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"651","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jgg.2018.11.003","volume":"45","author":"EE Dzakah","year":"2018","unstructured":"Dzakah EE, Waqas A, Wei S, Yu B, Wang X, Fu T, Shan G. Loss of miR-83 Extends Lifespan and Affects Target Gene Expression in an Age-Dependent Manner in Caenorhabditis Elegans. J Genet Genomics. 2018;45:651\u201362.","journal-title":"J Genet Genomics"},{"key":"2061_CR30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"424","DOI":"10.1086\/367962","volume":"187","author":"M Xia","year":"2003","unstructured":"Xia M, Bumgarner RE, Lampe MF, Stamm WE. Chlamydia trachomatis infection alters host cell transcription in diverse cellular pathways. J Infect Dis. 2003;187:424\u201334.","journal-title":"J Infect Dis"},{"key":"2061_CR31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms7050140","volume":"7","author":"M Di Pietro","year":"2019","unstructured":"Di Pietro M, Filardo S, Romano S, Sessa R. Chlamydia trachomatis and chlamydia pneumoniae interaction with the host: latest advances and future prospective. Microorganisms. 2019;7:140.","journal-title":"Microorganisms."},{"key":"2061_CR32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5924","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.01029-07","volume":"75","author":"KR Buchholz","year":"2007","unstructured":"Buchholz KR, Stephens RS. The extracellular signal-regulated kinase\/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway induces the inflammatory factor interleukin-8 following chlamydia trachomatis infection. Infect Immun. 2007;75:5924\u20139.","journal-title":"Infect Immun"},{"key":"2061_CR33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"ra21","DOI":"10.1126\/scisignal.2000651","volume":"3","author":"RK Gurumurthy","year":"2010","unstructured":"Gurumurthy RK, Maurer AP, Machuy N, Hess S, Pleissner KP, Schuchhardt J, et al. A loss-of-function screen reveals Ras- and Raf-independent MEK-ERK signaling during Chlamydia trachomatis infection. Sci Signal. 2010;3:ra21.","journal-title":"Sci Signal"},{"key":"2061_CR34","first-page":"11A.1.1","volume":"00","author":"MA Scidmore","year":"2005","unstructured":"Scidmore MA. Cultivation and laboratory maintenance of chlamydia trachomatis. Curr Protoc Microbiol. 2005;00:11A.1.1\u201311A.1.25.","journal-title":"Curr Protoc Microbiol"},{"key":"2061_CR35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1011","DOI":"10.1038\/nsmb.3302","volume":"23","author":"S Hu","year":"2016","unstructured":"Hu S, Wang X, Shan G. Insertion of an Alu element in an lncRNA leads to primate specific modulation of alternative splicing. Nat Struct Biol. 2016;23:1011\u20139.","journal-title":"Nat Struct Biol"},{"key":"2061_CR36","volume-title":"FastQC-A quality control tool for high throughput sequence data","author":"Bioinformatics B","year":"2016","unstructured":"Bioinformatics B. FastQC-A quality control tool for high throughput sequence data. 2016. Available from: FastQCC Babraham Bioinformatics 2016. http:\/\/www.bioinformatics.babraham.ac.uk\/projects\/fastqc\/. Accessed 10 Oct 2019."},{"key":"2061_CR37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"R106","DOI":"10.1186\/gb-2010-11-10-r106","volume":"11","author":"S Anders","year":"2010","unstructured":"Anders S, Huber W. Differential expression analysis for sequence count data. Genome Biol. 2010;11:R106.","journal-title":"Genome Biol"},{"key":"2061_CR38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2105-10-48","volume":"10","author":"E Eran","year":"2009","unstructured":"Eran E, Roy N, Israel S, Doron L, Zohar Y. Gorilla: a tool for discovery and visualization of enriched GO terms in ranked gene lists. BMC Bioinform. 2009;10:48.","journal-title":"BMC Bioinform"},{"key":"2061_CR39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"W90","DOI":"10.1093\/nar\/gkw377","volume":"44","author":"MV Kuleshov","year":"2016","unstructured":"Kuleshov MV, Jones MR, Rouillard AD, Fernandez FN, Duan Q, Wang Z, et al. Enrichr: a comprehensive gene set enrichment analysis web server 2016 update. Nucleic Acids Res. 2016;44:W90\u20137.","journal-title":"Nucleic Acids Res"},{"key":"2061_CR40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2498","DOI":"10.1101\/gr.1239303","volume":"13","author":"P Shannon","year":"2003","unstructured":"Shannon P, Markiel A, Ozier O. Cytoscape: a software environment for integrated models of biomolecular interaction networks. Genome Res. 2003;13:2498\u2013504.","journal-title":"Genome Res"}],"container-title":["BMC Microbiology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12866-020-02061-6.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s12866-020-02061-6\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"http:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s12866-020-02061-6.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,4]],"date-time":"2021-01-04T09:07:48Z","timestamp":1609751268000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/bmcmicrobiol.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s12866-020-02061-6"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,4]]},"references-count":40,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]}},"alternative-id":["2061"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12866-020-02061-6","relation":{},"ISSN":["1471-2180"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1471-2180","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,4]]},"assertion":[{"value":"9 September 2020","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"24 November 2020","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"4 January 2021","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"Informed consent was obtained from all subjects or if subjects are under 18, from a parent and\/or legal guardian. All the experiments were carried out by following the relevant guidelines and regulations (Declaration of Helsinki). Serum samples used in this study were from previously diagnosed <i>C. trachomatis-<\/i> or HIV-1-infected patients, and the study was approved by the institutional review board protocols of the Dermatology Hospital Southern Medical University (2018015).","order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"3"}}