Borrelia disseminating via OSP-C
By Linda on Jan 11, 2011 in Infections | comments(0)
Link: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0015830
Excerpt:
The Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi dramatically upregulates
outer surface protein C (OspC) in response to fresh bloodmeal during
transmission from the tick vector to a mammal, and abundantly produces the
antigen during early infection. As OspC is an effective immune target, to
evade the immune system B. burgdorferi downregulates the antigen once the
anti-OspC humoral response has developed, suggesting an important role for
OspC during early infection.Methodology/Principal Findings
In this study, a borrelial mutant producing an OspC antigen with a
5-amino-acid deletion was generated. The deletion didn’t significantly
increase the 50% infectious dose or reduce the tissue bacterial burden
during infection of the murine host, indicating that the truncated OspC can
effectively protect B. burgdorferi against innate elimination.
However, the deletion greatly impaired the ability of B. burgdorferi to
disseminate to remote tissues after inoculation into mice.Conclusions/Significance
The study indicates that OspC plays an important role in dissemination of B.
burgdorferi during mammalian infection.
