Nonspecific proliferative responses of murine lymphocytes to Borrelia burgdorferi antigens.
Proliferative responses of naive splenocytes to Borrelia burgdorferi antigens from mice susceptible (C3H) and resistant (BALB) to Lyme borreliosis were investigated. B. burgdorferi spirochetes and recombinant outer surface proteins, OspA and OspB, were found to induce nonspecific proliferation of naive splenocytes from both strains of mice. Cell purification studies localized nonspecific proliferation to the B cell-enriched fraction. B. burgdorferi, OspA, and OspB were found to induce IgM and IgG synthesis in vitro. The mitogenic effect of B. burgdorferi was dissimilar to that of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), in that B cells from C3H/HeJ mice (LPS-unresponsive) responded at levels comparable to those from C3H/HeNCrlBr mice. These results emphasize the need for caution in the study of antigen-specific proliferation for B. burgdorferi.
de Souza
M S
MS
Section of Comparative Medicine; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
Fikrig
E
E
Smith
A L
AL
Flavell
R A
RA
Barthold
S W
SW
D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000276:immunology; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology*; D004306:Dose-Response Relationship, Immunologic; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000096:biosynthesis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000276:immunology; D008074:Lipoproteins; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008074:Lipoproteins; C072045:OspA protein; D011994:Recombinant Proteins