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Characterizing And Epitope Mapping Single-Domain Antibodies On Borrelia Burgdorferi Protein Ospa, Saiful Basir
Characterizing And Epitope Mapping Single-Domain Antibodies On Borrelia Burgdorferi Protein Ospa, Saiful Basir
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Epitope mapping a protein that enables pathogenesis is crucial for the development of therapies and prophylactics that can inhibit the pathogen’s function and its transmission of disease. The lipoprotein OspA enables Lyme Disease etiologic pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi, to inhabit the tick midgut until transmission occurs. Anti-OspA mAbs and their smaller VHH counterparts are highly specific and tailored to bind proteins such as OspA, reproducibly, at established binding sites or epitopes. Previous studies found an array of mAbs that successfully bound OspA and have already been used in epitope mapping. To our knowledge, this is the first use of VHHs in …
Mechanisms By Which Protective Human Outer Surface Protein A Antibodies Block Transmission Of Borrelia Burgdorferi, Amber M. Frye
Mechanisms By Which Protective Human Outer Surface Protein A Antibodies Block Transmission Of Borrelia Burgdorferi, Amber M. Frye
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi) is the causative agent of Lyme disease in the United States and Europe, which remains a major threat to public health. While currently no human Lyme disease vaccine is available, a previously licensed OspA-based vaccine was shown to effectively prevent transmission of B. burgdorferi from ticks to mammalian hosts. Concerning the vaccines mechanism of action, OspA antibodies enter the bloodmeal of a feeding tick and engage with B. burgdorferi producing OspA on their outer surface in a manner that impairs migration of the spirochete to the host; however exact antibody-spirochete interaction is unknown, despite the importance …
Molecular Mechanisms Shaping Host Range Of A Vector-Borne Pathogen, Thomas Macgregor Hart
Molecular Mechanisms Shaping Host Range Of A Vector-Borne Pathogen, Thomas Macgregor Hart
Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)
Vector-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl), have narrow host ranges and are apt models to study host-microparasite coevolution. Some species and strains of Lyme borreliae (LB) are specialists, infecting only mammalian or only avian hosts (ex. Borrelia afzelii and B. garinii, respectively), while others are generalists and infect both hosts (ex. B. burgdorferi). Such host tropisms are hypothesized to be partially shaped by the ability of these pathogens evade host immune defenses, such as complement. Complement is a first line host defense against invading pathogens that kills LB in vitro and inhibits spirochete …