Expression of the Tick-Associated Vtp Protein of Borrelia hermsii in a Murine Model of Relapsing Fever.

ABSTRACT: Borrelia hermsii, a spirochete and cause of relapsing fever, is notable for its immune evasion by multiphasic antigenic variation within its vertebrate host. This is based on a diverse repertoire of surface antigen genes, only one of which is expressed at a time. Another major surface protein, the Variable Tick Protein (Vtp), is expressed in the tick vector and is invariable at its genetic locus. Given the limited immune systems of ticks, the finding of considerable diversity among the Vtp proteins of different strains of B. hermsii was unexpected. We investigated one explanation for this diversity of Vtp proteins, namely expression of the protein in mammals and a consequent elicitation of a specific immune response. Mice were infected with B. hermsii of either the HS1 or CC1 strain, which

SUBMITTER: Marcsisin RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4769344 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature