This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow An erratum has been published
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Liang, F. T.
Right arrow Articles by Philipp, M. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Liang, F. T.
Right arrow Articles by Philipp, M. T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, March 2001, p. 1337-1343, Vol. 69, No. 3
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.3.1337-1343.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

C-Terminal Invariable Domain of VlsE May Not Serve as Target for Protective Immune Response against Borrelia burgdorferi

Fang Ting Liang, Mary B. Jacobs, and Mario T. Philipp*

Department of Parasitology, Tulane Regional Primate Research Center, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, Covington, Louisiana 70433

Received 1 August 2000/Returned for modification 12 October 2000/Accepted 22 November 2000

VlsE, the variable surface antigen of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, contains two invariable domains, at the amino and carboxyl termini, respectively, which collectively account for approximately one-half of the entire molecule's length and remain unchanged during antigenic variation. It is not known if these two invariable domains are exposed at the surface of either the antigen or the spirochete. If they are exposed at the spirochete's surface, they may elicit a protective immune response against B. burgdorferi and serve as vaccine candidates. In this study, a 51-mer synthetic peptide that reproduced the entire sequence of the C-terminal invariable domain of VlsE was conjugated to the carrier keyhole limpet hemocyanin and used to immunize mice. Generated mouse antibody was able to immunoprecipitate native VlsE extracted from cultured B. burgdorferi B31 spirochetes, indicating that the C-terminal invariable domain was exposed at the antigen's surface. However, this domain was inaccessible to antibody binding at the surface of cultured intact spirochetes, as demonstrated by both an immunofluorescence experiment and an in vitro killing assay. Mouse antibody to the C-terminal invariable domain was not able to confer protection against B. burgdorferi infection, indicating that this domain was unlikely exposed at the spirochete's surface in vivo. We concluded that the C-terminal invariable domain was exposed at the antigen's surface but not at the surface of either cultured or in vivo spirochetes and thus cannot elicit protection against B. burgdorferi infection.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Tulane Regional Primate Research Center, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 18703 Three Rivers Rd., Covington, LA 70433. Phone: (504) 871-6221. Fax: (504) 871-6390. E-mail: philipp{at}tpc.tulane.edu.

Infection and Immunity, March 2001, p. 1337-1343, Vol. 69, No. 3
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.3.1337-1343.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Xu, Q., Seemanapalli, S. V., McShan, K., Liang, F. T. (2006). Constitutive Expression of Outer Surface Protein C Diminishes the Ability of Borrelia burgdorferi To Evade Specific Humoral Immunity. Infect. Immun. 74: 5177-5184 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Liang, F. T., Yan, J., Mbow, M. L., Sviat, S. L., Gilmore, R. D., Mamula, M., Fikrig, E. (2004). Borrelia burgdorferi Changes Its Surface Antigenic Expression in Response to Host Immune Responses. Infect. Immun. 72: 5759-5767 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Crother, T. R., Champion, C. I., Wu, X.-Y., Blanco, D. R., Miller, J. N., Lovett, M. A. (2003). Antigenic Composition of Borrelia burgdorferi during Infection of SCID Mice. Infect. Immun. 71: 3419-3428 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McDowell, J. V., Sung, S.-Y., Hu, L. T., Marconi, R. T. (2002). Evidence That the Variable Regions of the Central Domain of VlsE Are Antigenic during Infection with Lyme Disease Spirochetes. Infect. Immun. 70: 4196-4203 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Eicken, C., Sharma, V., Klabunde, T., Lawrenz, M. B., Hardham, J. M., Norris, S. J., Sacchettini, J. C. (2002). Crystal Structure of Lyme Disease Variable Surface Antigen VlsE of Borrelia burgdorferi. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 21691-21696 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Liang, F. T., Jacobs, M. B., Bowers, L. C., Philipp, M. T. (2002). An Immune Evasion Mechanism for Spirochetal Persistence in Lyme Borreliosis. JEM 195: 415-422 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Anguita, J., Thomas, V., Samanta, S., Persinski, R., Hernanz, C., Barthold, S. W., Fikrig, E. (2001). Borrelia burgdorferi-Induced Inflammation Facilitates Spirochete Adaptation and Variable Major Protein-Like Sequence Locus Recombination. J. Immunol. 167: 3383-3390 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Liang, F. T., Bowers, L. C., Philipp, M. T. (2001). C-Terminal Invariable Domain of VlsE Is Immunodominant but Its Antigenicity Is Scarcely Conserved among Strains of Lyme Disease Spirochetes. Infect. Immun. 69: 3224-3231 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»