Decorin-binding protein A (DbpA) of Borrelia burgdorferi is not protective when immunized mice are challenged via tick infestation and correlates with the lack of DbpA expression by B. burgdorferi in ticks.
Previous studies showed that decorin-binding protein A (DbpA) of Borrelia burgdorferi was a protective immunogen in the murine model of Lyme borreliosis when mice were challenged (needle inoculated) intradermally with in vitro-cultivated spirochetes. In the present study, DbpA-immunized C3H/HeJ mice were not protected from infection when infested with Ixodes scapularis nymphs harboring virulent B. burgdorferi 297. This lack of protection correlated with the failure to detect DbpA on B. burgdorferi in ticks, suggesting that DbpA is not available as a target for bactericidal antibodies in serum when B. burgdorferi-infected ticks take their blood meal from an immunized host. The failure of DbpA immunization to protect tick-challenged mice contradicts the results of earlier needle inoculation vaccination experiments and suggests that DbpA may not be suitable as a Lyme disease vaccine.
Hagman
K E
KE
Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75235, USA.
Yang
X
X
Wikel
S K
SK
Schoeler
G B
GB
Caimano
M J
MJ
Radolf
J D
JD
Norgard
M V
MV
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000276:immunology*; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D012469:Salivary Glands / Q000382:microbiology; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000382:microbiology*; D014611:Vaccination
D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; C112557:DdpB protein, Borrelia burgdorferi