Evidence that the BBA68 Protein (BbCRASP-1) of the Lyme Disease Spirochetes Does Not Contribute to Factor H-Mediated Immune Evasion in Humans and Other Animals

Abstract

BBA68 (BbCRASP-1) of the Lyme disease spirochetes binds human factor H (FH) and FH-like protein 1 (FHL-1). Here we assess transcription of the BBA68 gene and production of BBA68 in infected mice and humans using real-time reverse transcriptase PCR and immunoblotting. The species specificity of FH binding to BBA68 was also tested. The data suggest that BBA68 does not play an important role in immune evasion in animals.