Changing of the guard: How the Lyme disease spirochete subverts the host immune response.

ABSTRACT: Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is the most common tick-transmitted disease in the Northern Hemisphere. The disease is caused by the bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and other related Borrelia species. One of the many fascinating features of this unique pathogen is an elaborate system for antigenic variation, whereby the sequence of the surface-bound lipoprotein VlsE is continually modified through segmental gene conversion events. This perpetual changing of the guard allows the pathogen to remain one step ahead of the acquired immune response, enabling persistent infection. Accordingly, the vls locus is the most evolutionarily diverse genetic element in Lyme disease-causing borreliae. Small stretches of information are transferred from a series

SUBMITTER: Chaconas G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6956529 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature