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Immunological and molecular polymorphisms of OspC, an immunodominant major outer surface protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.

ABSTRACT: The gene of the immunodominant major protein pC of Borrelia burgdorferi was previously cloned and sequenced (R. Fuchs, S. Jauris, F. Lottspeich, V. Preac-Mursic, B. Wilske, and E. Soutschek, Mol. Microbiol. 6:503-509, 1992). pC is abundantly expressed on the outer surface of B. burgdorferi, as demonstrated by immunoelectron microscopy with monoclonal antibody L22 1F8. Accordingly, pC is renamed OspC, by analogy to the outer surface proteins OspA and OspB. Western immunoblot analysis of 45 B. burgdorferi isolates with monoclonal antibodies revealed that OspC is immunologically heterogeneous. Partial sequence analysis of the ospC gene confirmed the protein heterogeneity at the genetic level. We found that the degree of identity between the ospC partial sequences of five strains representing different OspA serotypes was only 63.3 to 85.4%. Immunological heterogeneity was also observed among representatives of the three newly designated genospecies of B. burgdorferi sensu lato, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, and group VS461. Heterogeneity was confirmed for B. garinii at the genetic level. The ospC gene was also cloned from strains that did not express OspC, and antibody-reactive OspC was expressed in Escherichia coli. In addition, OspC-expressing variants were obtained from a nonexpressing strain by plating single colonies on solid medium. These findings confirm that the ospC gene is also present in nonexpressing strains. Because OspC is an immunodominant protein for the early immune response in Lyme borreliosis and was effective as a vaccine in an animal model, the immunological and molecular polymorphisms of ospC and OspC have important implications for the development of diagnostic reagents and vaccines.

SUBMITTER: Wilske B

PROVIDER: S-EPMC280819 | biostudies-other | 1993 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Immunological and molecular polymorphisms of OspC, an immunodominant major outer surface protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.

Wilske B B Preac-Mursic V V Jauris S S Hofmann A A Pradel I I Soutschek E E Schwab E E Will G G Wanner G G

Infection and immunity 19930501 5

The gene of the immunodominant major protein pC of Borrelia burgdorferi was previously cloned and sequenced (R. Fuchs, S. Jauris, F. Lottspeich, V. Preac-Mursic, B. Wilske, and E. Soutschek, Mol. Microbiol. 6:503-509, 1992). pC is abundantly expressed on the outer surface of B. burgdorferi, as demonstrated by immunoelectron microscopy with monoclonal antibody L22 1F8. Accordingly, pC is renamed OspC, by analogy to the outer surface proteins OspA and OspB. Western immunoblot analysis of 45 B. bur ...[more]

PMID: 8478108

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Project description:It has been shown by analysis with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies that outer surface protein C (OspC) of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is highly heterogeneous. To determine if the heterogeneity has a genetic basis, the genes of 18 different B. burgdorferi sensu lato strains have been amplified by PCR, cloned, and sequenced. The ospC genes could be amplified from all strains tested, even from two strains which did not express OspC in detectable amounts. Among the 18 strains, 16 significantly different types of ospC sequences have been found. The sequence identities of the deduced amino acid sequences of different ospC genotypes range between 62 and 80% (determined without the leader peptide). The sequences range between 62 and 80% (determined without the leader peptide). The sequences correspond to one of the 13 OspC types distinguishable by analysis with monoclonal antibodies (B. Wilske, S. Jauris-Heipke, R. Lobentanzer, I. Pradel, V. Preac-Mursic, D. Roessler, E. Soutschek, and R. C. Johnson, J. Clin. Microbiol. 33:103-109, 1995) or represent additional types. Two completely new types were found, and OspC type 8 (which was found in Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii) could be divided into two groups with different sequences but the same antibody pattern. Thus, strains belonging to different species or OspA serotypes were always significantly different in their ospC sequences. This was also confirmed by ospA sequence analysis. Interestingly, some strains of the same OspA serotype or genotype were very heterogeneous with respect to OspC, while others had nearly identical OspC proteins. Such groups of strains were found among B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii, and B. garinii strains. Cluster analysis of 5'-terminal and 3'-terminal stretches of ospC suggested recent intragenic recombination events in the ospC gene at least one B. afzelii strain. In addition, other recombination events between ancestors of strains belonging to the same or different species were evidenced by this type of analysis.

Dataset Information

Immunological and molecular polymorphisms of OspC, an immunodominant major outer surface protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.

Publications

Immunological and molecular polymorphisms of OspC, an immunodominant major outer surface protein of Borrelia burgdorferi.

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