Clonal diversification in OspA-specific antibodies from peripheral circulation of a chronic Lyme arthritis patient.

ABSTRACT: Chronic, antibiotic treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis develops in a subset of patients following infection with the tick-borne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and persists after apparent microbial clearance. IgG responses to Outer Surface Protein (Osp) A, an abundant spirochetal lipoprotein, correlate with both severity and duration of joint inflammation. Characterization of this OspA-directed antibody response is, therefore, important for understanding some of the mechanisms that sustain persistent pathology. Such analyses in Lyme arthritis patients have been previously hampered by relatively small amounts of clinical blood samples, as well as the general intractability and low success rates of B-cell immortalization procedures. Here we describe a robust method for generation of OspA-spe

SUBMITTER: Ghosh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1899465 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature