title: Relapsing fever Borrelia binds to neolacto glycans and mediates rosetting of human erythrocytes.
abstract: A hallmark of acute relapsing fever borreliosis is severe bacteremia. Some Borrelia species, such as B. duttonii and B. crocidurae, associate with erythrocytes and induce aggregation recognized as erythrocyte rosetting. Erythrocyte rosettes contribute to disease severity by increased tissue invasiveness (such as invasion of CNS and encephalitis), hemorrhaging, and reduced blood flow in affected microcapillaries. Here we report that relapsing fever Borrelia binds to neolacto (Galbeta4GlcNAcbeta3Galbeta4Glcbeta1)-carrying glycoconjugates that are present on human erythrocytes. This interaction is of low affinity but is compensated for by the multivalency of neo-lacto-oligosaccharides on the erythrocyte cell surface. Hence, the protein-carbohydrate interaction is dependent on multivalent neolacto-glycans to mediate binding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Betty P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Susann
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Teneberg
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Münch
authors.forename: Daiyo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Terunuma
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hatano
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Angström
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Borén
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bergström
mesh_terms: D001898:Borrelia / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005915:Globosides / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000276:immunology; D012061:Relapsing Fever / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D012397:Rosette Formation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D005915:Globosides; D011134:Polysaccharides; C036363:paragloboside