, 2009). The most intensely stained glycolipids in the B. burgdorferi s.l. group were ACGal

as indicated by the synthetic reference (lanes 1–2) and its nonacylated counterpart cholesteryl β-d-galactopyranoside (CGal). Cholesteryl β-d-glucoside (CGlc) was present with a slightly higher retention factor (Rf) with regard to the latter. Pritelivir purchase In B. burgdorferi s.l. CGlc comprises about one fifth of the amount of CGal whereas in B. hermsii (lacking CGal) it is the only nonacylated cholesteryl glycoside. Mono-α-d-galactosyl diacylglycerol stained weakly, but it was present in the total lipids of all strains including B. hermsii in comparable amounts. The immunostained membrane of the blotted lipids (Fig. 1b) showed only a clear signal in lanes 1–2 with synthetic ACGal and lanes 3–15 covering the 13 B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies. No matching immunostaining was observed for B. hermsii, confirming former results that its ACGlc is not cross-reactive with ACGal (Stübs et al., 2009). All other lipids were nonreactive with serum IgG antibodies under these conditions. To assess the specificity of ACGal,

it was analyzed with sera derived from patients see more with serologically confirmed infection with Treponema pallidum or Leptospira spp. The dot blots (Fig. 1c) demonstrate that LD sera recognize synthetic ACGal, the total lipids of B. burgdorferi sensu lato as well as the borrelial lysate. In contrast, antibodies against ACGal could not be detected in pooled sera from patients with T. pallidum or Leptospira infection. Our data show that ACGal is present in significant

quantities in all B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies cAMP tested, including the common genospecies causing all stages of disease, B. spielmanii causing localized infection only, as well as B. japonica as a nonpathogenic agent. Therefore, using ACGal in serodiagnosis, while potentially enhancing sensitivity, would not bear the risk of missing certain genospecies. It furthermore offers an excellent specificity because it is not recognized by sera from patients suffering from other spirochaetoses. Also, these data support the notion that ACGal may be a promising vaccine target because antibodies recognizing this molecule detect all known B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies. In addition, our data do not support a pivotal role of ACGal in LD pathogenesis, but indicate that these glycolipids are important for maintaining the integrity and function of the cell membrane in Borrelia. We would like to thank Cecilia Hizo-Teufel (Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority) for cultivating the Borrelia strains as well as Barbara Graf and Janine Zweigner (Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) for providing patient sera. “
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