Survival strategies of Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease.
To fight, flee or hide are the imperatives of long-term survival by an infectious microbe. Active immune suppression, induction of immune tolerance, phase and antigenic variation, intracellular seclusion, and incursion into immune privileged sites are examples of survival strategies of persistent pathogens. Here we critically review the supporting evidence for possible stratagems utilized by Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete that causes Lyme disease, to persist in the mammalian host.
Embers
Monica E
ME
Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, Covington, LA 70433, USA.
Ramamoorthy
Ramesh
R
Philipp
Mario T
MT
D000818:Animals; D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D000940:Antigenic Variation; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*
D000936:Antigen-Antibody Complex; D016207:Cytokines; D003165:Complement System Proteins