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Infection and Immunity, April 2001, p. 2407-2415, Vol. 69, No. 4
Department of Pathology, College of
Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State
University,1 and Division of
Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious
Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention,2 Fort Collins, Colorado
Received 11 August 2000/Returned for modification 16 October
2000/Accepted 4 January 2001
We previously showed that adoptive transfer of Borrelia
burgdorferi-pulsed dendritic cells (DCs) into syngeneic mice
protects animals from challenge with tick-transmitted spirochetes.
Here, we demonstrate that the protective immune response is antibody (Ab) dependent and does not require the presence of major
histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II molecules on DCs. Mice
sensitized with B. burgdorferi-pulsed MHC class
II-deficient (MHC class II
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.4.2407-2415.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II-Independent
Generation of Neutralizing Antibodies against T-Cell-Dependent
Borrelia burgdorferi Antigens Presented by Dendritic
Cells: Regulation by NK and

T Cells
/
) DCs
mounted a humoral response against protective antigens, including
B. burgdorferi outer surface protein A (OspA) and OspC. B-cell help for the generation of neutralizing anti-OspC immunoglobulin G Abs could be provided by 
T cells. In contrast,
anti-OspA Ab production required the presence of 
T cells,
although this pathway could be independent of MHC class II molecules on
antigen-presenting cells. Moreover, depletion of NK cells prior to
transfer of antigen-pulsed MHC class II
/
DCs resulted
in significant increases in the levels of neutralizing Abs induced by
DCs. Altogether, these data suggest that the initial interactions
between DCs and innate immune cells, such as 
and NK cells, can
influence the generation of a protective humoral response against
B. burgdorferi antigens.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centocor, Inc.,
200 Great Valley Pkwy., Malvern, PA 19355. Phone: (610) 889-4643. Fax: (610) 651-6798. E-mail: mbowl{at}centocor.com.
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