Title
Decorin-binding proteins A and B confer distinct mammalian cell type-specific attachment by Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology; Program in Immunology and Virology
Publication Date
2003-05-30
Document Type
Article
Subjects
*Adhesins, Bacterial; Bacterial Adhesion; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; Bacterial Proteins; Base Sequence; Borrelia burgdorferi; Carrier Proteins; Cell Line; DNA, Bacterial; Dermatan Sulfate; Endothelium; Epithelial Cells; Genes, Bacterial; Glycosaminoglycans; Humans; Lyme Disease; Neuroglia; Phenotype; Virulence
Disciplines
Life Sciences | Medicine and Health Sciences
Abstract
Host cell binding is an essential step in colonization by many bacterial pathogens, and the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, which colonizes multiple tissues, is capable of attachment to diverse cell types. Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are ubiquitously expressed on mammalian cells and are recognized by multiple B. burgdorferi surface proteins. We previously showed that B. burgdorferi strains differ in the particular spectrum of GAGs that they recognize, leading to differences in the cultured mammalian cell types that they efficiently bind. The molecular basis of these binding specificities remains undefined, due to the difficulty of analyzing multiple, potentially redundant cell attachment pathways and to the paucity of genetic tools for this pathogen. In the current study, we show that the expression of decorin-binding protein (Dbp) A and/or DbpB, two B. burgdorferi surface proteins that bind GAGs, is sufficient to convert a high-passage nonadherent B. burgdorferi strain into one that efficiently binds 293 epithelial cells. Epithelial cell attachment was mediated by dermatan sulfate, and, consistent with this GAG-binding specificity, these recombinant strains did not bind EA-Hy926 endothelial cells. The GAG-binding properties of bacteria expressing DbpB or DbpA were distinguishable, and DbpB but not DbpA promoted spirochetal attachment to C6 glial cells. Thus, DbpA and DbpB may each play central but distinct roles in cell type-specific binding by Lyme disease spirochetes. This study illustrates that transformation of high-passage B. burgdorferi strains may provide a relatively simple genetic approach to analyze virulence-associated phenotypes conferred by multiple bacterial factors.
DOI of Published Version
10.1073/pnas.1231043100
Source
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2003 Jun 10;100(12):7307-12. Epub 2003 May 28. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Related Resources
PubMed ID
12773620
Repository Citation
Fischer JR, Parveen N, Magoun L, Leong JM. (2003). Decorin-binding proteins A and B confer distinct mammalian cell type-specific attachment by Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete. Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1231043100. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/1771