Alp, an arthropod-associated outer membrane protein of Borrelia species that cause relapsing fever.

ABSTRACT: Borrelia hermsii and other relapsing fever (RF) species are noted for their highly polymorphic surface antigens, the variable major proteins (VMP). Less is known about other surface proteins of these pathogens in either their vertebrate reservoirs or arthropod vectors. To further characterize these proteins, we elicited antibodies against VMP-less cells, noted antibody reactions against whole cells and cell components, and then subjected selected antigens to mass spectroscopy for amino acid sequencing for comparison against a B. hermsii genome database. One of the derived monoclonal antibodies, H0120, agglutinated spirochetes, and in Western blot analyses, it bound to a 14-kDa protein of whole cells and their membrane fractions but not after protease treatment. A search of open reading fra

SUBMITTER: Marcsisin RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3347450 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature