Stübs Gunthard, Fingerle Volker, Zähringer Ulrich, Schumann Ralf R, Rademann Jörg, Schröder Nicolas W J
Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin.
FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2011 Oct;63(1):140-3. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-695X.2011.00827.x. Epub 2011 Jun 27.
Lyme disease (LD) is the most common tick-borne disease in the Northern hemisphere. It is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, in particular, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii. However, other genospecies have been implicated as causative factors of LD as well. Borrelia burgdorferi exhibits numerous immunogenic lipoproteins, but due to strong heterogeneity, the use of these proteins for serodiagnosis and vaccination is hampered. We and others have identified acylated cholesteryl galactosides (ACGal) as a novel glycolipid present in B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii, and B. garinii. ACGal is a strong antigen and the majority of patients display anti-ACGal antibodies in the chronic stages of LD. However, it is unknown whether ACGal is present in other presumably pathogenic B. burgdorferi genospecies. Therefore, we performed an analysis of the total lipid extracts of a wide spectrum of genospecies of B. burgdorferi sensu lato using thin-layer chromatography as well as Western blot and dot-blot assays. We show that ACGal is present in substantial quantities in all B. burgdorferi genospecies tested. Therefore, this molecule might improve the serological detection of rarely pathogenic genospecies, and may be used as a protective vaccine regardless of the prevailing genospecies.
莱姆病（LD）是北半球最常见的蜱传疾病。它由伯氏疏螺旋体复合群引起，特别是狭义伯氏疏螺旋体、伽氏疏螺旋体和阿氏疏螺旋体。然而，其他基因种也被认为是莱姆病的致病因素。伯氏疏螺旋体表现出众多免疫原性脂蛋白，但由于高度异质性，这些蛋白在血清学诊断和疫苗接种中的应用受到阻碍。我们和其他人已鉴定出酰化胆固醇半乳糖苷（ACGal）是狭义伯氏疏螺旋体、阿氏疏螺旋体和伽氏疏螺旋体中存在的一种新型糖脂。ACGal是一种强抗原，大多数患者在莱姆病慢性期会出现抗ACGal抗体。然而，尚不清楚ACGal是否存在于其他可能致病的伯氏疏螺旋体基因种中。因此，我们使用薄层色谱以及蛋白质印迹和斑点印迹分析对广泛的伯氏疏螺旋体复合群基因种的总脂质提取物进行了分析。我们发现，在所测试的所有伯氏疏螺旋体基因种中都大量存在ACGal。因此，这种分子可能会改善对罕见致病基因种的血清学检测，并且无论流行的基因种如何，都可作为一种保护性疫苗使用。
