Partners in Crime

Gonorrhoea, chlamydia, genital herpes, human papillomavirus (HPV) – all of these infections target the womb entrance, the cervix. A lack of cervical models makes studying these infections difficult. Researchers now present cervical organoids, made from human ectocervical [vaginal end of the cervix] cells, to investigate infection with a cancer-causing strain of HPV alone or in combination with chlamydia. Half of the organoids were genetically manipulated to introduce HPV genes into their DNA, mimicking what happens during HPV infection. Fluorescence microscopy revealed HPV organoids (pictured, right) matured similarly to non-HPV organoids (left) but with signs of precancerous lesions. When infected with chlamydia both types of organoid showed changes in gene activity relating to the cells' immune responses. Notably, chlamydia co-infection suppressed genetic changes that HPV is known to cause that promote DNA repair. The organoid model, therefore, highlights how coinfections change how the cervix responds, potentially affecting cancer progression in HPV infections.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image adapted from work by Stefanie Koster and Rajendra Kumar Gurumurthy, and colleagues
• Department of Molecular Biology, Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in Nature Communications, February 2022