Travelling between two worlds : complement as a gatekeeper for an expanded host range of lyme disease spirochetes

  • Evading innate immunity is a prerequisite for pathogenic microorganisms in order to survive in their respective hosts. Concerning Lyme disease spirochetes belonging to the Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu lato group, a broad range of diverse vertebrates serve as reservoir or even as incidental hosts, including humans. The capability to infect multiple hosts implies that spirochetes have developed sophisticated means to counter the destructive effects of complement of humans and various animals. While the means by which spirochetes overcome the hosts immune defense are far from being completely understood, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that binding of the key regulator of the alternative pathway, Factor H, plays a pivotal role for immune evasion and that Factor H is an important determinant of host specificity. This review covers (i) the contribution of complement in host-specificity and transmissibility of Lyme disease spirochetes; (ii) the involvement of borrelial-derived determinants to host specificity; (iii) the interplay of human and animal Factor H with complement-acquiring surface proteins of diverse borrelial species; and (iv) the potential role of additional animal complement proteins in the immune evasion of spirochetes.

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Author:Peter KraiczyGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-508032
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci3020012
ISSN:2306-7381
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29056721
Parent Title (English):Veterinary Sciences
Publisher:MDPI
Place of publication:Basel
Contributor(s):Ulrike Munderloh
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2016
Date of first Publication:2016/06/14
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2019/07/29
Tag:Borrelia; Lyme disease; animal host; complement; human; immune evasion; innate immunity; spirochetes; vertebrates
Volume:3
Issue:2, Art. 12
Page Number:15
First Page:1
Last Page:15
Note:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
HeBIS-PPN:452226597
Institutes:Medizin / Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0