This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
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 Belperron, A. A.
Right arrow Articles by Bockenstedt, L. K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Belperron, A. A.
Right arrow Articles by Bockenstedt, L. K.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, October 2001, p. 6456-6462, Vol. 69, No. 10
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.10.6456-6462.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Natural Antibody Affects Survival of the Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi within Feeding Ticks

Alexia A. Belperron and Linda K. Bockenstedt*

Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520

Received 30 March 2001/Returned for modification 11 May 2001/Accepted 26 June 2001

Natural antibodies are those immunoglobulin molecules found in mammalian serum that arise in the absence of exposure to environmental pathogens and may comprise an early host defense against invading pathogens. The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi first encounters natural antibodies when its arthropod vector, Ixodes scapularis, begins feeding on a mammalian host. Natural antibodies may therefore have an impact on pathogens within blood-sucking vectors, prior to pathogen transmission to the mammal. In this study, we investigated whether natural antibodies influenced the number and/or phenotype of B. burgdorferi organisms within feeding I. scapularis nymphs. Using a competitive PCR, we found that ticks ingesting a blood meal from B-cell-deficient mice, which lack all immunoglobulins, contained fivefold more spirochete DNA than ticks feeding on control mice. Spirochete DNA levels could be reduced to that of controls with passive transfer of normal mouse serum or polyclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM), but not IgG, into B-cell-deficient mice prior to placement of infected ticks. At 48 h of tick feeding, 90% of spirochetes within salivary glands of ticks removed from B-cell-deficient mice were found by confocal immunofluorescence microscopy to express outer surface protein A (OspA), compared to only 5% of salivary gland spirochetes from ticks detached from control mice. Taken together, these results show that ingestion of natural antibodies limits the spirochete burden within feeding ticks. Because OspA is normally downregulated when spirochetes moved from the tick midgut to the salivary gland, our findings suggest that OspA-expressing midgut spirochetes may be particularly susceptible to the borrelicidal effects of these molecules.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520. Phone: (203) 785-7063. Fax: (203) 785-7053. E-mail: linda.bockenstedt{at}yale.edu.

Infection and Immunity, October 2001, p. 6456-6462, Vol. 69, No. 10
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.10.6456-6462.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Vesely, D. L., Fish, D., Shlomchik, M. J., Kaplan, D. H., Bockenstedt, L. K. (2009). Langerhans Cell Deficiency Impairs Ixodes scapularis Suppression of Th1 Responses in Mice. Infect. Immun. 77: 1881-1887 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Malkiel, S., Kuhlow, C. J., Mena, P., Benach, J. L. (2009). The Loss and Gain of Marginal Zone and Peritoneal B Cells Is Different in Response to Relapsing Fever and Lyme Disease Borrelia. J. Immunol. 182: 498-506 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Battisti, J. M., Bono, J. L., Rosa, P. A., Schrumpf, M. E., Schwan, T. G., Policastro, P. F. (2008). Outer Surface Protein A Protects Lyme Disease Spirochetes from Acquired Host Immunity in the Tick Vector. Infect. Immun. 76: 5228-5237 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moller, A.P., Nielsen, J.T., Garamzegi, L.Z. (2008). Risk taking by singing males. Behav Ecol 19: 41-53 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Woodman, M. E., Cooley, A. E., Miller, J. C., Lazarus, J. J., Tucker, K., Bykowski, T., Botto, M., Hellwage, J., Wooten, R. M., Stevenson, B. (2007). Borrelia burgdorferi Binding of Host Complement Regulator Factor H Is Not Required for Efficient Mammalian Infection. Infect. Immun. 75: 3131-3139 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Crowley, H., Alroy, J., Sproule, T. J., Roopenian, D., Huber, B. T. (2006). The MHC class I-related FcRn ameliorates murine Lyme arthritis. Int Immunol 18: 409-414 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Guerau-de-Arellano, M., Alroy, J., Huber, B. T. (2005). {beta}2 Integrins Control the Severity of Murine Lyme Carditis. Infect. Immun. 73: 3242-3250 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hodzic, E., Tunev, S., Feng, S., Freet, K. J., Barthold, S. W. (2005). Immunoglobulin-Regulated Expression of Borrelia burgdorferi Outer Surface Protein A In Vivo. Infect. Immun. 73: 3313-3321 [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»