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
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Coleman, A. S.
Right arrow Articles by Pal, U.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Coleman, A. S.
Right arrow Articles by Pal, U.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, November 2009, p. 1569-1575, Vol. 16, No. 11
1071-412X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00301-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

BBK07, a Dominant In Vivo Antigen of Borrelia burgdorferi, Is a Potential Marker for Serodiagnosis of Lyme Disease{triangledown}

Adam S. Coleman and Utpal Pal*

Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maryland, College Park, and Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, College Park, Maryland 20742

Received 22 July 2009/ Returned for modification 26 August 2009/ Accepted 15 September 2009

One of the recently identified Borrelia burgdorferi immunogens, BBK07, is characterized for its expression in the spirochete infection cycle and evaluated for its potential use as a serodiagnostic marker for Lyme disease. We show that the BBK07 gene is expressed at extremely low levels in vitro and in ticks but is dramatically induced by spirochetes once introduced into the host and is highly expressed throughout mammalian infection. In contrast, the expression of BBK12, a paralog of BBK07 with 87% amino acid identity, although expressed in vitro, remained undetectable in vivo throughout murine infection and in ticks. BBK07 is localized in the outer membrane, and the amino-terminal domain of the antigen is exposed on the microbial surface. A truncated BBK07 protein representing the amino-terminal domain is able to effectively detect antibodies to B. burgdorferi, both in experimentally infected mice and in humans. Further characterization of the immunodominant antigens of B. burgdorferi, such as BBK07, could contribute to the development of novel serodiagnostic markers for detection of Lyme disease.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Veterinary Medicine, Building 795, Room 1341, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. Phone: (301) 314-2118. Fax: (301) 314-6855. E-mail: upal{at}umd.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 23 September 2009.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, November 2009, p. 1569-1575, Vol. 16, No. 11
1071-412X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00301-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»