The Journal of Immunology, Vol 146, Issue 8 2776-2782, Copyright © 1991 by American Association of Immunologists

ARTICLES

Immunologic and structural characterization of the dominant 66- to 73- kDa antigens of Borrelia burgdorferi

BJ Luft, PD Gorevic, W Jiang, P Munoz and RJ Dattwyler
Department of Medicine, SUNY, Stony Brook 11794.

The 66- to 73-kDa proteins of Borrelia burgdorferi are dominant immunogens and expressed in all strains of B. burgdorferi. The humoral response to these Ag occurs relatively early during the course of infection. Two-dimensional Western blot analysis of this group of Ag revealed them to consist of a tetrad of proteins with apparent molecular mass of 66, 68, 71, and 73 kDa. Furthermore, in this study we demonstrate the 66-kDa protein to be a potent inducer of lymphoproliferation in the patient immune to B. burgdorferi. Monospecific polyclonal antibodies and mAb demonstrate that each of these proteins was immunologically distinct. However, direct amino acid sequence of the 66- and 68-kDa Ag was almost identical and had a high level of sequence similarity to the GroEL heat-shock protein (Hsp60) of Escherichia coli and the 60-kDa immunodominant protein of Treponema pallidum. The amino terminal sequence of the 71- and 73-kDa proteins of B. burgdorferi was almost identical and these proteins had remarkable sequence similarity to the DnaK heat-shock protein of E. coli (Hsp70). It appears likely, therefore, that proteins related to the heat-shock family are potent immunogens of B. burgdorferi.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. G. Barbour, A. Jasinskas, M. A. Kayala, D. H. Davies, A. C. Steere, P. Baldi, and P. L. Felgner A Genome-Wide Proteome Array Reveals a Limited Set of Immunogens in Natural Infections of Humans and White-Footed Mice with Borrelia burgdorferi Infect. Immun., August 1, 2008; 76(8): 3374 - 3389. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. H. Long, F. J. Gomez, R. E. Morris, and S. L. Newman Identification of Heat Shock Protein 60 as the Ligand on Histoplasma capsulatum That Mediates Binding to CD18 Receptors on Human Macrophages J. Immunol., January 1, 2003; 170(1): 487 - 494. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Alverson and D. S. Samuels groEL Expression in gyrB Mutants of Borrelia burgdorferi J. Bacteriol., November 1, 2002; 184(21): 6069 - 6072. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. T. Liang, R. H. Jacobson, R. K. Straubinger, A. Grooters, and M. T. Philipp Characterization of a Borrelia burgdorferi VlsE Invariable Region Useful in Canine Lyme Disease Serodiagnosis by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay J. Clin. Microbiol., November 1, 2000; 38(11): 4160 - 4166. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				F. T. Liang, A. C. Steere, A. R. Marques, B. J. B. Johnson, J. N. Miller, and M. T. Philipp Sensitive and Specific Serodiagnosis of Lyme Disease by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay with a Peptide Based on an Immunodominant Conserved Region of Borrelia burgdorferi VlsE J. Clin. Microbiol., December 1, 1999; 37(12): 3990 - 3996. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				K. Ryffel, O. Péter, B. Rutti, A. Suard, and E. Dayer Scored Antibody Reactivity Determined by Immunoblotting Shows an Association between Clinical Manifestations and Presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, B. afzelii, and B. Valaisiana in Humans J. Clin. Microbiol., December 1, 1999; 37(12): 4086 - 4092. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				U. Hauser, G. Lehnert, and B. Wilske Validity of Interpretation Criteria for Standardized Western Blots (Immunoblots) for Serodiagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis Based on Sera Collected throughout Europe J. Clin. Microbiol., July 1, 1999; 37(7): 2241 - 2247. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				U. Hauser, G. Lehnert, and B. Wilske Diagnostic Value of Proteins of Three Borrelia Species (Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato) and Implications for Development and Use of Recombinant Antigens for Serodiagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe Clin. Vaccine Immunol., July 1, 1998; 5(4): 456 - 462. [Abstract] [Full Text]