Or...Search this site Home Symptoms Live Discussion Diagnosis Treatment Area Support Library Research Lymelinks Contact Pets & Lyme DONATIONS Drug Info Medical Dictionary Board of Directors      Click on the graphic to vote for this site as a Starting Point Hot Site. -- No Warranties or Representations The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections. The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website. Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect. en français For Physicians Ticks Coinfections Prevention Our Stories Click Here to order our free Lyme Disease Flyer,    Here for our free Lyme Disease Poster ..documents may be copied (to distribute) but edit only for alignment. Yale University; Borrelia burgdorferi changes antigens based on host immune response. 08 December 2004 Biotech Week -- The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, causes persistent mammalian infection despite the development of vigorous immune responses against the pathogen. To examine spirochetal phenotypes that dominate in the hostile immune environment, the mRNA transcripts of four prototypic surface lipoproteins, decorin-binding protein A (DbpA), outer surface protein C (OspC), BBF01, and VlsE, were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR under various immune conditions. We demonstrate that B. burgdorferi changes its surface antigenic expression in response to immune attack," investigators in the United States report. TD "dbpA expression was unchanged while the spirochetes decreased ospC expression by 446 times and increased BBF01 and vlsE expression up to 20 and 32 times, respectively, under the influence of immune pressure generated in immunocompetent mice during infection," stated Fang Ting Liang and collaborators at Yale University, Centocor, Inc., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This change in antigenic expression could be induced by passively immunizing infected severe combined immunodeficiency mice with specific Borrelia antisera or OspC antibody and appears to allow B. burgdorferi to resist immune attack." Liang and associates published their study in Infection and Immunity (Borrelia burgdorferi changes its surface antigenic expression in response to host immune responses. Infec Immunity, 2004;72(10):5759-5767). For additional information, contact Erol Fikrig, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, S525A, 300 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520-8031, USA. E-mail: erol.fikrig@yale.edu. The publisher of the journal Infection and Immunity can be contacted at: American Society for Microbiology, 1752 N Street NW, Washington, DC 20036-2904, USA. The information in this article comes under the major subject areas of Lyme Disease, Tick-Borne Disease, Zoonosis, Lyme Disease Vaccine, Vaccine Development, Proteomics, Immunotherapy, and Immunology. This article was prepared by Biotech Week editors from staff and other reports.