Tick Salivary Protein Salp15 Inhibits the Killing of Serum-Sensitive Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Isolates

Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted by ticks. During transmission from the tick to the host, spirochetes are delivered with tick saliva, which contains the salivary protein Salp15. Salp15 has been shown to protect spirochetes against B. burgdorferi-specific antibodies. We...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Infection and Immunity 2008-07, Vol.76 (7), p.2888-2894
Main Authors: Schuijt, Tim J, Hovius, Joppe W.R, van Burgel, Nathalie D, Ramamoorthi, Nandhini, Fikrig, Erol, van Dam, Alje P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacterial Infections
Blood Bactericidal Activity
Borrelia burgdorferi
Borrelia burgdorferi Group - drug effects
Borrelia burgdorferi Group - growth & development
Borrelia burgdorferi Group - immunology
Borrelia burgdorferi Group - metabolism
Cell Membrane - metabolism
Complement Activation - immunology
Complement Membrane Attack Complex - antagonists & inhibitors
Complement Membrane Attack Complex - metabolism
Humans
Ixodes - metabolism
Ixodes - microbiology
Ixodes ricinus
Ixodes scapularis
Ixodidae
Salivary Proteins and Peptides - genetics
Salivary Proteins and Peptides - metabolism
Salivary Proteins and Peptides - pharmacology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted by ticks. During transmission from the tick to the host, spirochetes are delivered with tick saliva, which contains the salivary protein Salp15. Salp15 has been shown to protect spirochetes against B. burgdorferi-specific antibodies. We now show that Salp15 from both Ixodes ricinus and Ixodes scapularis protects serum-sensitive isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato against complement-mediated killing. I. ricinus Salp15 showed strong protective effects compared to those of I. scapularis Salp15. Deposition of terminal C5b to C9 (one molecule each of C5b, C6, C7, and C8 and one or more molecules of C9) complement complexes, part of the membrane attack complex, on the surface of B. burgdorferi was inhibited in the presence of Salp15. In the presence of normal human serum, serum-sensitive Borrelia burgdorferi requires protection against complement-mediated killing, which is provided, at least in part, by the binding to the tick salivary protein Salp15.
ISSN:0019-9567
1098-5522
DOI:10.1128/IAI.00232-08