KROONINEN INFEKTIO

[Bb]

Lähettäjä: Soijuv Lähetetty: 3.12.2004 17:21

Uusi tutkimus Yalen yliopistosta: Borreliabakteeri aiheuttaa kroonisen infektion ja kykenee estämään immuunijärjestelmän tuhoamisyritykset:


Yale University; Borrelia burgdorferi changes antigens based on host immune response

08 December 2004 Biotech Week Copyright 2004, Biotech Week via NewsRx.com (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net)

Borrelia burgdorferi changes its surface antigenic expression in response to host immune responses.

The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, causes persistent mammalian infection despite the development of vigorous immune responses against the pathogen. To examine spirochetal phenotypes that dominate in the hostile immune environment, the mRNA transcripts of four prototypic surface lipoproteins, decorin-binding protein A (DbpA), outer surface protein C (OspC), BBF01, and VlsE, were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR under various immune conditions. We demonstrate that B. burgdorferi changes its surface antigenic expression in response to immune attack," investigators in the United States report. TD "dbpA expression was unchanged while the spirochetes decreased ospC expression by 446 times and increased BBF01 and vlsE expression up to 20 and 32 times, respectively, under the influence of immune pressure generated in immunocompetent mice during infection," stated Fang Ting Liang and collaborators at Yale University, Centocor, Inc., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This change in antigenic expression could be induced by passively immunizing infected severe combined immunodeficiency mice with specific Borrelia antisera or OspC antibody and appears to allow B. burgdorferi to resist immune attack." Liang and associates published their study in Infection and Immunity (Borrelia burgdorferi changes its surface antigenic expression in response to host immune responses. Infec Immunity, 2004;72(10):5759-5767).

For additional information, contact Erol Fikrig, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, S525A, 300 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8031, USA. E-mail: erol.fikrig@yale.edu.