Epitope-Specific Evolution of Human B Cell Responses to Borrelia burgdorferi VlsE Protein from Early to Late Stages of Lyme Disease.
Publication/Presentation Date
2-1-2016
Abstract
Most immunogenic proteins of Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, are known or expected to contain multiple B cell epitopes. However, the kinetics of the development of human B cell responses toward the various epitopes of individual proteins during the course of Lyme disease has not been examined. Using the highly immunogenic VlsE as a model Ag, we investigated the evolution of humoral immune responses toward its immunodominant sequences in 90 patients with a range of early to late manifestations of Lyme disease. The results demonstrate the existence of asynchronous, independently developing, Ab responses against the two major immunogenic regions of the VlsE molecule in the human host. Despite their strong immunogenicity, the target epitopes were inaccessible to Abs on intact spirochetes, suggesting a lack of direct immunoprotective effect. These observations document the association of immune reactivity toward specific VlsE sequences with different phases of Lyme disease, demonstrating the potential use of detailed epitope mapping of Ags for staging of the infection, and offer insights regarding the pathogen's possible immune evasion mechanisms.
Volume
196
Issue
3
First Page
1036
Last Page
1043
ISSN
1550-6606
Published In/Presented At
Jacek, E., Tang, K. S., Komorowski, L., Ajamian, M., Probst, C., Stevenson, B., Wormser, G. P., Marques, A. R., & Alaedini, A. (2016). Epitope-Specific Evolution of Human B Cell Responses to Borrelia burgdorferi VlsE Protein from Early to Late Stages of Lyme Disease. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950), 196(3), 1036–1043. https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1501861
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
26718339
Department(s)
Department of Family Medicine
Document Type
Article