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Cross-reactivity of antibody responses to Borrelia afzelii OspC : Asymmetry and host heterogeneity

Nouri, Mehrnaz LU ; Latorre-Margalef, Neus LU ; Czopek, Agnieszka LU and Råberg, Lars LU (2021) In Infection, Genetics and Evolution 91.
Abstract

The tick-transmitted bacterium Borrelia afzelii consists of a number of antigenically different strains — often defined by outer surface protein C (OspC) genotype — that coexist at stable frequencies in host populations. To investigate how host antibody responses affect strain coexistence, we measured antibody cross-reactivity to three different OspC types (OspC 2, 3 and 9) in three different strains of laboratory mice (BALB/c, C3H and C57BL/6). The extent of cross-reactivity differed between mouse strains, being higher in C3H than BALB/c and C57BL/6. In one of three pairwise comparisons of OspC types (OspC2 vs OspC9), there was evidence for asymmetry of cross-reactivity, with antibodies to OspC2 cross-reacting more strongly with OspC9... (More)

The tick-transmitted bacterium Borrelia afzelii consists of a number of antigenically different strains — often defined by outer surface protein C (OspC) genotype — that coexist at stable frequencies in host populations. To investigate how host antibody responses affect strain coexistence, we measured antibody cross-reactivity to three different OspC types (OspC 2, 3 and 9) in three different strains of laboratory mice (BALB/c, C3H and C57BL/6). The extent of cross-reactivity differed between mouse strains, being higher in C3H than BALB/c and C57BL/6. In one of three pairwise comparisons of OspC types (OspC2 vs OspC9), there was evidence for asymmetry of cross-reactivity, with antibodies to OspC2 cross-reacting more strongly with OspC9 than vice versa. These results indicate that the extent of antibody-mediated competition between OspC types may depend on the composition of the host population, and that such competition may be asymmetric. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding the coexistence of OspC types.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Antibody cross-reactivity, Antigenic diversity, Borrelia burgdorferi, OspC, Within-host competition
in
Infection, Genetics and Evolution
volume
91
article number
104793
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85102006276
  • pmid:33652116
ISSN
1567-1348
DOI
10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104793
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9359ef2c-2631-4d56-a4f9-f703fab2b5f9
date added to LUP
2021-12-23 08:00:50
date last changed
2024-03-23 16:24:39
@article{9359ef2c-2631-4d56-a4f9-f703fab2b5f9,
  abstract     = {{<p>The tick-transmitted bacterium Borrelia afzelii consists of a number of antigenically different strains — often defined by outer surface protein C (OspC) genotype — that coexist at stable frequencies in host populations. To investigate how host antibody responses affect strain coexistence, we measured antibody cross-reactivity to three different OspC types (OspC 2, 3 and 9) in three different strains of laboratory mice (BALB/c, C3H and C57BL/6). The extent of cross-reactivity differed between mouse strains, being higher in C3H than BALB/c and C57BL/6. In one of three pairwise comparisons of OspC types (OspC2 vs OspC9), there was evidence for asymmetry of cross-reactivity, with antibodies to OspC2 cross-reacting more strongly with OspC9 than vice versa. These results indicate that the extent of antibody-mediated competition between OspC types may depend on the composition of the host population, and that such competition may be asymmetric. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding the coexistence of OspC types.</p>}},
  author       = {{Nouri, Mehrnaz and Latorre-Margalef, Neus and Czopek, Agnieszka and Råberg, Lars}},
  issn         = {{1567-1348}},
  keywords     = {{Antibody cross-reactivity; Antigenic diversity; Borrelia burgdorferi; OspC; Within-host competition}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Infection, Genetics and Evolution}},
  title        = {{Cross-reactivity of antibody responses to Borrelia afzelii OspC : Asymmetry and host heterogeneity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104793}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.meegid.2021.104793}},
  volume       = {{91}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}