A Borrelia burgdorferi Surface-Exposed Transmembrane Protein Lacking Detectable Immune Responses Supports Pathogen Persistence and Constitutes a Vaccine Target

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Kung F., Kaur S., Smith A. A., Yang X., Wilder C. N., Sharma K., ...Daha Fazla

JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, cilt.213, sa.11, ss.1786-1795, 2016 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 213 Sayı: 11
  • Basım Tarihi: 2016
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1093/infdis/jiw013
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1786-1795
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Borrelia burgdorferi, BB0405, pathogen persistence, transmission-blocking, vaccine, LYME-DISEASE SPIROCHETE, OUTER-MEMBRANE PROTEINS, WHOLE-GENOME SEQUENCES, GENE-EXPRESSION, TICKS, TRANSMISSION, MICE, LIPOPROTEIN, ARTHRITIS, VECTOR
  • Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Borrelia burgdorferi harbors a limited set of transmembrane surface proteins, most of which constitute key targets of humoral immune responses. Here we show that BB0405, a conserved membrane-spanning protein of unknown function, fails to evoke detectable antibody responses despite its extracellular exposure. bb0405 is a member of an operon and ubiquitously expressed throughout the rodent-tick infection cycle. The gene product serves an essential function in vivo, as bb0405-deletion mutants are unable to transmit from ticks and establish infection in mammalian hosts. Despite the lack of BB0405-specific immunoglobulin M or immunoglobulin G antibodies during natural infection, mice immunized with a recombinant version of the protein elicited high-titer and remarkably long-lasting antibody responses, conferring significant host protection against tick-borne infection. Taken together, these studies highlight the essential role of an apparently immune-invisible borrelial transmembrane protein in facilitating infection and its usefulness as a target of protective host immunity blocking the transmission of B. burgdorferi.