{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,24]],"date-time":"2026-03-24T21:26:56Z","timestamp":1774387616598,"version":"3.50.1"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":50,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1774224000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                  infection is the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection worldwide and a leading cause of inflammatory reproductive tract disease and infertility in women. Much of the tissue damage associated with genital chlamydial infection arises from host inflammatory responses rather than direct bacterial cytotoxicity. Epithelial cells lining the female reproductive tract represent the primary host cells infected during chlamydial infection and play key roles in initiating innate immune responses. Among the cytokines produced by infected epithelial cells, type-I interferons have emerged as important regulators of host defense and inflammatory signaling; however, the specific contribution of interferon-\u03b2 (IFN-\u03b2) to epithelial transcriptional responses during chlamydial infection remains incompletely defined.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:p>In the present study, we investigated the role of IFN-\u03b2 in coordinating epithelial immune signaling networks during infection with Chlamydia muridarum. Using wild-type murine oviduct epithelial cells (OE-WT) and IFN-\u03b2-deficient epithelial cells (OE-IFN\u03b2-KO), we performed pathway-focused RT\u00b2 Profiler PCR array analyses examining transcriptional responses across four biological pathways: (1) innate and adaptive immune responses, (2) type-I interferon signaling, (3) inflammatory and autoimmune responses, and (4) fibrosis-associated pathways. Infection of OE-WT cells resulted in coordinated induction of cytokines, chemokines, and interferon-stimulated genes associated with antimicrobial defense and immune cell recruitment. In contrast, IFN-\u03b2 deficiency resulted in widespread dysregulation of these transcriptional programs, including reduced induction of interferon-responsive chemokines such as CCL5 and CXCL10, altered inflammatory cytokine expression, and transcriptional signatures consistent with enhanced tissue remodeling responses.<\/jats:p>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Notably, IFN-\u03b2 deficiency resulted in increased TNF expression accompanied by reduced IL-6 induction, suggesting disruption of balanced inflammatory signaling networks. Pathway analyses further revealed dysregulated expression of fibrosis-associated genes including\n                  <jats:italic>Serpine1, Ctgf,<\/jats:italic>\n                  and\n                  <jats:italic>Eng<\/jats:italic>\n                  in IFN-\u03b2-deficient epithelial cells, indicating potential mechanisms linking interferon signaling to tissue remodeling during infection. Collectively, these findings identify IFN-\u03b2 as a central regulator of epithelial immune networks during chlamydial infection and suggest that disruption of IFN-\u03b2 signaling may promote inflammatory and fibrotic pathology within the female reproductive tract.\n                <\/jats:p>\n                <jats:sec>\n                  <jats:title>Author Summary<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Sexually transmitted infections caused by\n                    <jats:italic>Chlamydia trachomatis<\/jats:italic>\n                    are a major cause of infertility worldwide. Although antibiotic treatment can eliminate the bacteria, damage to the reproductive tract often results from the body\u2019s own immune response to infection. The epithelial cells lining the reproductive tract are the first cells infected and play an important role in initiating immune responses. In this study, we investigated how a specific immune signaling molecule, interferon-\u03b2 (IFN-\u03b2), regulates the gene expression programs activated in epithelial cells during chlamydial infection. Using pathway-focused gene expression arrays, we found that IFN-\u03b2 coordinates multiple immune pathways, including interferon signaling, inflammatory cytokine networks, and genes associated with tissue remodeling. When IFN-\u03b2 was absent, many of these pathways became dysregulated, resulting in altered inflammatory signaling and gene expression patterns linked to fibrosis. These findings suggest that IFN-\u03b2 functions as a key regulator that helps balance protective immune responses with inflammatory processes that can damage reproductive tissues during infection.\n                  <\/jats:p>\n                <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.03.23.713583","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,23]],"date-time":"2026-03-23T11:25:14Z","timestamp":1774265114000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Interferon-\u03b2 Coordinates Epithelial Immune Networks and Fibrotic Responses During\n                  <i>Chlamydia muridarum<\/i>\n                  Infection"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Ramesh","family":"Kumar","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Iliana C.","family":"Cordova-Mendez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Marian University-Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine Indianapolis, Indiana 46222"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Derrick","family":"Burgess","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Marian University-Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine Indianapolis, Indiana 46222"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Brahim","family":"Qadadri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dept. of Infectious Diseases; Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, Indiana 46202"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Arkaprabha","family":"Banerjee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dept. of Microbiology"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8250-6261","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wilbert A.","family":"Derbigny","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Marian University-Wood College of Osteopathic Medicine Indianapolis, Indiana 46222"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2471\/BLT.18.228486"},{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nri1551"},{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1086\/652397"},{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.01525-06"},{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1128\/IAI.72.7.3951-3960.2004"},{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/nri3787"},{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0195165"},{"key":"2026032411450454000_2026.03.23.713583v1.8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Derbigny WA , et al. 2012. 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