P55, an immunogenic but nonprotective 55-kilodalton Borrelia burgdorferi protein in murine Lyme disease.
Immunization of C3H mice with P55 (previously called S1), a 55-kDa Borrelia burgdorferi antigen that is immunogenic after infection, elicited a strong antibody response but did not protect mice against B. burgdorferi challenge. Mice immunized with a P55 fusion protein in complete Freund's adjuvant developed anti-P55 antibodies, detectable at a titer of 1:10,000 by immunoblotting. To determine, if a protective response had been elicited, P55-vaccinated mice were fed upon by ticks infected with B. burgdorferi. The frequency of B. burgdorferi infection was similar in P55-immunized and control mice, and spirochetes were not destroyed within ticks that fed on P55-vaccinated mice. P55 is an immunogenic antigen that does not induce a protective response in the vertebrate or invertebrate host.
Feng
S
S
Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8031, USA.
Barthold
S W
SW
Telford
S R
SR
Fikrig
E
E
D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology*; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C097324:P55-L5 protein, Borrelia burgdorferi