Hemagglutination and proteoglycan binding by the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. Infect Immun 1995 Mar;63(3):874-83
Date
03/01/1995Pubmed ID
7532628Pubmed Central ID
PMC173084DOI
10.1128/iai.63.3.874-883.1995Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0028915849 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 78 CitationsAbstract
The ability of the Lyme disease spirochete to attach to host components may contribute to its ability to infect diverse tissues. We present evidence that the Lyme disease spirochete expresses a lectin activity that promotes agglutination of erythrocytes and bacterial attachment to glycosaminoglycans. Among a diverse collection of 21 strains of Lyme disease spirochete, hemagglutinating activity was easily detected in all but 3 strains, and these three strains were noninfectious. The ability to agglutinate erythrocytes was associated with the ability of the spirochete to bind to the sulfated polysaccharide dextran sulfate and to mammalian cells. Soluble dextran sulfate was a potent inhibitor of both hemagglutination and attachment to mammalian cells, while dextran had no effect on either activity, suggesting that dextran sulfate may inhibit attachment by mimicking host cell glycosaminoglycans. Consistent with this, the spirochete bound to immobilized heparin, and soluble heparin inhibited bacterial adhesion to mammalian cells. The bacterium did not bind efficiently to Vero cells treated with heparinase or heparitinase or to mutant CHO cell lines that are deficient in proteoglycan synthesis. Sulfation of glycosaminoglycans was critical for efficient bacterial recognition, as Vero cells treated with an inhibitor of sulfation, or a mutant CHO cell line that produces undersulfated heparan sulfate, did not mediate maximal spirochetal binding. Binding of the spirochete to extracellular matrix also appeared to be dependent upon this attachment pathway. These findings suggest that a glycosaminoglycan-binding activity which can be detected by hemagglutination contributes to the attachment of the Lyme disease spirochete to host cells and matrix.
Author List
Leong JM, Morrissey PE, Ortega-Barria E, Pereira ME, Coburn JAuthor
Jenifer Coburn PhD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsBacterial Adhesion
Borrelia burgdorferi
Borrelia burgdorferi Group
CHO Cells
Cricetinae
Dextran Sulfate
Extracellular Matrix
Hemagglutination Tests
Heparin
Heparitin Sulfate
Integrins
Platelet Glycoprotein GPIIb-IIIa Complex
Proteoglycans
Sulfuric Acid Esters
Vero Cells
Virulence