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Infection and Immunity, July 2008, p. 2888-2894, Vol. 76, No. 7
0019-9567/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00232-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Tick Salivary Protein Salp15 Inhibits the Killing of Serum-Sensitive Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Isolates{triangledown}

Tim J. Schuijt,1* Joppe W. R. Hovius,2,3 Nathalie D. van Burgel,1 Nandhini Ramamoorthi,3 Erol Fikrig,3 and Alje P. van Dam1

Department of Medical Microbiology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands,1 Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine (CEMM), University of Amsterdam, AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,2 Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut3

Received 18 February 2008/ Returned for modification 20 March 2008/ Accepted 8 April 2008

Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted by ticks. During transmission from the tick to the host, spirochetes are delivered with tick saliva, which contains the salivary protein Salp15. Salp15 has been shown to protect spirochetes against B. burgdorferi-specific antibodies. We now show that Salp15 from both Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes scapularis protects serum-sensitive isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato against complement-mediated killing. I. ricinus Salp15 showed strong protective effects compared to those of I. scapularis Salp15. Deposition of terminal C5b to C9 (one molecule each of C5b, C6, C7, and C8 and one or more molecules of C9) complement complexes, part of the membrane attack complex, on the surface of B. burgdorferi was inhibited in the presence of Salp15. In the presence of normal human serum, serum-sensitive Borrelia burgdorferi requires protection against complement-mediated killing, which is provided, at least in part, by the binding to the tick salivary protein Salp15.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Leiden, Albinusdreef 2, 2333 ZA Leiden, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-71-5261451. Fax: 31-71-5248148. E-mail: T.J.Schuijt{at}lumc.nl

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 21 April 2008.

Editor: A. J. Bäumler

Infection and Immunity, July 2008, p. 2888-2894, Vol. 76, No. 7
0019-9567/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00232-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Guo, X., Booth, C. J., Paley, M. A., Wang, X., DePonte, K., Fikrig, E., Narasimhan, S., Montgomery, R. R. (2009). Inhibition of Neutrophil Function by Two Tick Salivary Proteins. Infect. Immun. 77: 2320-2329 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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