Wilmore C. Webley

Assistant Professor

Phone: 413-577-3139
Fax: 413-545-1578
Email:wilmore@microbio.umass.edu
Mailing address

Ph.D.: Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, 2003

Lab Group Home Page
Microbiology 540 Course Website

Entry, survival, and host range of the obligate intracellular pathogens, Chlamydiaceae

Our lab is interested in the entry and survival of the obligate intracellular pathogens, the Chlamydiaceae. In particular, we would like to elucidate the functions of the host proteins associated with the chlamydial inclusions at entry as well as early and late stages of inclusion development. Additionally, we would like to study the signaling pathways activated at the time of bacterial attachment, entry, and inclusion development with the hope of determining the strategies used by Chlamydia to invade and survive in particular host cells. Preliminary data shows that caveolin proteins and intermediate filament proteins might be involved in inclusion growth and structural stability respectively.

We are also interested in understanding the range of chlamydial tropism, especially in human infections, with the hope of better understanding the mechanisms of infection. Our lab has successfully isolated viable chlamydial organisms from normal blood donors as well as bronchial lavages. Lastly, we are also involved in the design and development of display and delivery systems for potential efficacious chlamydial vaccines as well as more reliable diagnostic tests and primary culture techniques. Our approach is a combination of genetics, molecular biology, cell biology and immunology techniques.

Chlamydia infects mouse macrophages. 96h infection of mouse macrophages, (J774A.1 cells) with C.trachomatis Serovar K. Note the large inclusions fluorescing green, stained with rabbit anti-Chlamydia antibodies.

Viable Chlamydia inclusions found in WBC of normal donor blood. C. pneumoniae inclusions are seen here in the blood smear of a healthy donor. The inclusions have displaced the nuclei of these monocytes. 25% of normal blood donors have viable Chlamydia in their peripheral blood.

Some members of the family Chlamydiaceae colocalize with caveolin-2. The inclusions of C.trachomatis serovars A, B, C and K as well as C. psittaci and C. pneumoniae shown here, colocalize with the detergent insoluble, lipid raft protein caveolin-2. The mouse pneumonitis agent (MoPn) does not associate with this protein. We have shown that Chlamydial gene expression is required for this association in cells that lack caveolin-1.

Selected Publications

Wilmore Webley , Elizabeth Stuart, Frances Cirino, Fran Cahill, Theresa Stec, Chester Andrzejewski. Successful Removal of Chlamydia pneumoniae from Plateletpheresis Products Collected Using Automated Leukoreduction Hemapheresis Techniques. J Clin Apher . 2006 Mar 28.

Frances Cirino, Wilmore C. Webley , Chester Andrzejewski, Elizabeth S. Stuart. Detection of Chlamydia in the peripheral blood cells of normal donors by in vitro culture, immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry techniques. BMC Infect Dis. 2006 Feb 10; 6:23.

Webley WC , Salva PS, Andrzejewski C, Cirino F, West CA , Tilahun Y, Stuart ES.,The Bronchial Lavage of Pediatric Patients With Asthma Contains Infectious Chlamydia . Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 171(10):1083-8.15 May 2005.

Webley WC , Norkin LC, Stuart ES. Caveolin-2 associates with intracellular chlamydial inclusions independently of caveolin-1 . BMC Infect Dis . 4(1): 23, 22 Jul 2004.

W. C. Webley , G. J. Vora, E. S. Stuart. Cell surface display of the chlamydial glycolipid exoantigen [GLXA] demonstrated by antibody-dependent complement-mediated cytotoxicity . Curr Microbiol . 2004 Jul; 49(1):13-21.

W. C. Webley , F. Cirino, C. West, C. Andrzejewski, E. S. Stuart, P. S. Salva. Detection of Viable Chlamydophila pneumoniae Organisms in the Blood and Bronchial Lavages of Pediatric Patients with Chronic Bronchial Asthma. Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med . 169(7): A586, Apr 2004.

W. Webley , E. Stuart, F. Cirino, F. Cahill, T. Stec, C. Andrzejewski. Successful removal of Chlamydophila pneumoniae from blood by Apheresis leukoreduction . Journal of Clinical Apheresis . 18(2), Jul 2003.

Stuart, Webley , Norkin. Lipid Rafts, Caveolae, Caveolin-1, and Entry by Chlamydiae into Host Cells . Exp Cell Res . 287(1): 67-78, 1 Jul 2003.

Department of Microbiology
203 Morrill Science Center IVN
University of Massachusetts
639 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, MA 01003

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