Life Sciences Commons^™

Complement Factor H-Related Proteins Cfhr2 And Cfhr5 Represent Novel Ligands For The Infection-Associated Crasp Proteins Of Borrelia Burgdorferi, Corinna Siegel, Teresia Hallström, Christine Skerka, Hannes Eberhardt, Barbara Uzonyi, Tobias Beckhaus, Michael Karas, Reinhard Wallich, Brian Stevenson, Peter F. Zipfel, Peter Kraiczy

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: One virulence property of Borrelia burgdorferi is its resistance to innate immunity, in particular to complement-mediated killing. Serum-resistant B. burgdorferi express up to five distinct complement regulator-acquiring surface proteins (CRASP) which interact with complement regulator factor H (CFH) and factor H-like protein 1 (FHL1) or factor H-related protein 1 (CFHR1). In the present study we elucidate the role of the infection-associated CRASP-3 and CRASP-5 protein to serve as ligands for additional complement regulatory proteins as well as for complement resistance of B. burgdorferi.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To elucidate whether CRASP-5 and CRASP-3 interact with various human proteins, both borrelial proteins …

Bpab, A Novel Protein Encoded By The Lyme Disease Spirochete's Cp32 Prophages, Binds To Erp Operator 2 Dna, Logan H. Burns, Claire A. Adams, Sean P. Riley, Brandon L. Jutras, Amy Bowman, Alicia M. Chenail, Anne E. Cooley, Laura A. Haselhorst, Alisha M. Moore, Kelly Babb, Michael G. Fried, Brian Stevenson

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Borrelia burgdorferi produces Erp outer surface proteins throughout mammalian infection, but represses their synthesis during colonization of vector ticks. A DNA region 5′ of the start of erp transcription, Operator 2, was previously shown to be essential for regulation of expression. We now report identification and characterization of a novel erp Operator 2-binding protein, which we named BpaB. erp operons are located on episomal cp32 prophages, and a single bacterium may contain as many as 10 different cp32s. Each cp32 family member encodes a unique BpaB protein, yet the three tested cp32-encoded BpaB alleles all bound to the same DNA …

The Chitobiose Transporter, Chbc, Is Required For Chitin Utilization In Borrelia Burgdorferi, David Nelson

David R. Nelson

Background: The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is a limited-genome organism that must obtain many of its biochemical building blocks, including N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), from its tick or vertebrate host. GlcNAc can be imported into the cell as a monomer or dimer (chitobiose), and the annotation for several B. burgdorferi genes suggests that this organism may be able to degrade and utilize chitin, a polymer of GlcNAc. We investigated the ability of B. burgdorferi to utilize chitin in the absence of free GlcNAc, and we attempted to identify genes involved in the process. We also examined the …