Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2011;715:35-49. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-0940-9_3.
The Borrelia are widely distributed agents of Lyme disease and Relapsing Fever. All are vector-borne zoonotic pathogens, have segmented genomes, and enigmatic mechanisms of pathogenesis. Adhesion to mammalian and tick substrates is one pathogenic mechanism that has been widely studied. At this point, the primary focus of research in this area has been on Borrelia burgdorferi, one agent of Lyme disease, but many of the adhesins of B. burgdorferi are conserved in other Lyme disease agents, and some are conserved in the Relapsing Fever Borrelia. B. burgdorferi adhesins that mediate attachment to cell-surface molecules may influence the host response to the bacteria, while adhesins that mediate attachment to soluble proteins or extracellular matrix components may cloak the bacterial surface from recognition by the host immune system as well as facilitate colonization of tissues. While targeted mutations in the genes encoding some adhesins have been shown to affect the infectivity and pathogenicity of B. burgdorferi, much work remains to be done to understand the roles of the adhesins in promoting the persistent infection required to maintain the bacteria in reservoir hosts.
伯氏疏螺旋体是莱姆病和回归热的广泛分布的病原体。所有这些病原体都是通过媒介传播的动物源性人畜共患病病原体，具有节段性基因组和神秘的发病机制。黏附哺乳动物和蜱类宿主是一种广泛研究的发病机制。在这一领域，目前的研究重点主要集中在莱姆病的一种病原体伯氏疏螺旋体上，但伯氏疏螺旋体的许多黏附素在其他莱姆病病原体中是保守的，有些在回归热螺旋体中也是保守的。伯氏疏螺旋体黏附素介导与细胞表面分子的附着，可能会影响宿主对细菌的反应，而介导与可溶性蛋白或细胞外基质成分附着的黏附素可以掩盖细菌表面，使其免受宿主免疫系统的识别，并有助于在组织中定植。虽然靶向突变编码某些黏附素的基因已被证明会影响伯氏疏螺旋体的感染力和致病性，但仍有许多工作需要做，以了解黏附素在促进持续感染方面的作用，以维持细菌在储存宿主中的存在。
