Identification of B-cell epitopes of Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface protein C by screening a phage-displayed gene fragment library.
Outer surface protein C (OspC) of Borrelia stimulates remarkable immune responses during early infection and is therefore currently considered a leading diagnostic and vaccine candidate. The sensitivity and specificity of serological tests based on whole protein OspC for diagnosis of Lyme disease are still unsatisfactory. Minimal B-cell epitopes are key in the development of reliable immunodiagnostic tools. Using OspC fragments displayed on phage particles (phage library) and anti-OspC antibodies isolated from sera of naturally infected patients, six OspC epitopes capable of distinguishing between LD patient and healthy control sera were identified. Three of these epitopes are located at the N-terminus (OspC E1 aa19-27, OspC E2 aa38-53, OspC E3 aa62-66) and three at the C-terminal end (OspC E4 aa155-163, OspC E5 aa184-190 and OspC E6 aa201-207). OspC E1, E4 and E6 were highly conserved among LD related Borreliae. To our knowledge, epitopes OspC E2, E3 and E5 were identified for the first time in this study. Minimal B-cell epitopes may provide fundamental data for the development of multi-epitope-based diagnostic tools for Lyme disease.
Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 04181, Kosice, Slovakia.
Lucia
L
Pulzova
Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 04181, Kosice, Slovakia.
Zuzana
Z
Flachbartova
Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 04181, Kosice, Slovakia.
Elena
E
Bencurova
Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 04181, Kosice, Slovakia.
Lenka
L
Potocnakova
Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 04181, Kosice, Slovakia.
Lubos
L
Comor
Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 04181, Kosice, Slovakia.
Eva
E
Schreterova
Laboratory of Biomedical Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, Komenskeho 73, 04181, Kosice, Slovakia. bhidemangesh@gmail.com.|Institute of Neuroimmunology of Slovak Academy of Sciences, 845 10 Bratislava, Slovakia. bhidemangesh@gmail.com.
Mangesh
M
Bhide
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000915:Antibody Affinity; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D061505:Cell Surface Display Techniques; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D019151:Peptide Library; D011485:Protein Binding
D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; C079616:OspC protein; D019151:Peptide Library
B-cell epitope; Lyme disease; gene fragment library; outer surface protein C