title: Borrelia burgdorferi bind to epithelial cell proteoglycans.
abstract: Borrelia burgdorferi adhere to mammalian cells in vitro but neither the ligand(s) nor the receptor(s) has (have) been clearly established. Using an in vitro attachment-inhibition assay, a B. burgdorferi attachment mechanism has been identified. Heparin, heparan sulfate, and dermatan sulfate reduced the attachment of virulent B. burgdorferi strain 297 to HeLa cells by approximately 60%. In addition, virulent, but not avirulent, B. burgdorferi strains B31, N40, and HB19 demonstrated heparin attachment-inhibition. Attachment to Chinese hamster ovary cells deficient in heparan sulfate proteoglycans was reduced by 68% compared to attachment to wild-type cells and was identical to attachment at maximum heparin inhibition to the wild-type cells. Pretreatment of HeLa cell monolayers with heparitinase, heparinase, and chondroitinase ABC, but not with chondroitinase AC, reduced borrelial attachment by approximately 50%. A moderately high affinity, low copy number, promiscuous B. burgdorferi glycosaminoglycan receptor was demonstrated by equilibrium binding studies. A 39-kD polypeptide, purified by heparin affinity chromatography from Triton X-100 extracts derived from virulent borrelia, was a candidate for this receptor. These studies indicate that one mode of B. burgdorferi attachment to eukaryotic cells is mediated by a borrelial glycosaminoglycan receptor attaching to surface-exposed proteoglycans on mammalian cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi 39216.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Isaacs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000187:drug effects / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D016466:CHO Cells; D002460:Cell Line; D006224:Cricetinae; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004848:Epithelium / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006493:Heparin / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008322:Mammals; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000378:metabolism*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D011509:Proteoglycans; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C086020:glycosaminoglycan receptor; D006493:Heparin