Biomaterial Database

Correlation between antigenicity and variability in the vls antigenic variation system of Borrelia burgdorferi. 2017

Wei Zhou, and Dustin Brisson

University of Pennsylvania, 3451 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, United States. Electronic address: zhouwei2@sas.upenn.edu.

Many parasites have evolved antigenic variation systems that alter surface proteins in order to evade recognition by presently expressed antibodies and subsequent death. Although the amino acid positions in antigens to which antibodies most commonly target are expected to be the most variable, this assumption has not been investigated. Using the vls antigenic variation system of Borrelia burgdorferi as a model, we first investigated this assumption computationally and then developed a sensitive immunoassay to experimentally validate the computational results. There was a strong correlation between variability at an amino acid position and each of the computational metrics associated with antibody reactivity. However, empirical measures of antibody reactivity were not consistently greater at the variable amino acid positions than at the invariant amino acid positions. The inconsistent experimental support for this hypothesis suggests that the biological effect of variability at an amino acid position is obfuscated by other factors.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007118	Immunoassay	A technique using antibodies for identifying or quantifying a substance. Usually the substance being studied serves as antigen both in antibody production and in measurement of antibody by the test substance.	Immunochromatographic Assay,Assay, Immunochromatographic,Assays, Immunochromatographic,Immunoassays,Immunochromatographic Assays
D008074	Lipoproteins	Lipid-protein complexes involved in the transportation and metabolism of lipids in the body. They are spherical particles consisting of a hydrophobic core of TRIGLYCERIDES and CHOLESTEROL ESTERS surrounded by a layer of hydrophilic free CHOLESTEROL; PHOSPHOLIPIDS; and APOLIPOPROTEINS. Lipoproteins are classified by their varying buoyant density and sizes.	Circulating Lipoproteins,Lipoprotein,Lipoproteins, Circulating
D000595	Amino Acid Sequence	The order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.	Protein Structure, Primary,Amino Acid Sequences,Sequence, Amino Acid,Sequences, Amino Acid,Primary Protein Structure,Primary Protein Structures,Protein Structures, Primary,Structure, Primary Protein,Structures, Primary Protein
D000907	Antibodies, Bacterial	Immunoglobulins produced in a response to BACTERIAL ANTIGENS.	Bacterial Antibodies
D000940	Antigenic Variation	Change in the surface ANTIGEN of a microorganism. There are two different types. One is a phenomenon, especially associated with INFLUENZA VIRUSES, where they undergo spontaneous variation both as slow antigenic drift and sudden emergence of new strains (antigenic shift). The second type is when certain PARASITES, especially trypanosomes, PLASMODIUM, and BORRELIA, survive the immune response of the host by changing the surface coat (antigen switching). (From Herbert et al., The Dictionary of Immunology, 4th ed)	Antigen Switching,Antigenic Diversity,Variation, Antigenic,Antigen Variation,Antigenic Switching,Antigenic Variability,Switching, Antigenic,Diversity, Antigenic,Switching, Antigen,Variability, Antigenic,Variation, Antigen
D000942	Antigens, Bacterial	Substances elaborated by bacteria that have antigenic activity.	Bacterial Antigen,Bacterial Antigens,Antigen, Bacterial
D001426	Bacterial Proteins	Proteins found in any species of bacterium.	Bacterial Gene Products,Bacterial Gene Proteins,Gene Products, Bacterial,Bacterial Gene Product,Bacterial Gene Protein,Bacterial Protein,Gene Product, Bacterial,Gene Protein, Bacterial,Gene Proteins, Bacterial,Protein, Bacterial,Proteins, Bacterial
D017433	Protein Structure, Secondary	The level of protein structure in which regular hydrogen-bond interactions within contiguous stretches of polypeptide chain give rise to ALPHA-HELICES; BETA-STRANDS (which align to form BETA-SHEETS), or other types of coils. This is the first folding level of protein conformation.	Secondary Protein Structure,Protein Structures, Secondary,Secondary Protein Structures,Structure, Secondary Protein,Structures, Secondary Protein
D018360	Crystallography, X-Ray	The study of crystal structure using X-RAY DIFFRACTION techniques. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)	X-Ray Crystallography,Crystallography, X Ray,Crystallography, Xray,X Ray Crystallography,Xray Crystallography,Crystallographies, X Ray,X Ray Crystallographies
D025065	Borrelia burgdorferi	A specific species of bacteria, part of the BORRELIA BURGDORFERI GROUP, whose common name is Lyme disease spirochete.	Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto,Lyme Disease Spirochete