Human antibody responses to VlsE antigenic variation protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.

ABSTRACT: VlsE is a 35-kDa surface-exposed lipoprotein of Borrelia burgdorferi that was shown previously to undergo antigenic variation through segmental recombination of silent vls cassettes with vlsE during experimental mouse infections. Previous data had indicated that sera from North American Lyme disease patients and experimentally infected animals contained antibodies reactive with VlsE. In this study, sera from patients with Lyme disease, syphilis, and autoimmune conditions as well as from healthy controls were examined for reactivity with VlsE by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Strong Western blot reactivity to a recombinant VlsE cassette region protein was obtained consistently with Lyme disease sera. Although sera from Lyme disease patients also reacted with

SUBMITTER: Lawrenz MB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC85865 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature