Thread by @LonnieRhea

New | Changing of the guard: How the Lyme disease spirochete subverts the host immune response. jbc.org/cgi/content/lo… via @jbiolchem

@jbiolchem "One of the many fascinating features of this unique pathogen is an elaborate system for antigenic variation whereby the sequence of the surface-bound lipoprotein VlsE is continually modified through segmental gene conversion events." #LymeDisease

@jbiolchem "This perpetual changing of the guard allows the pathogen to remain one step ahead of the acquired immune response, enabling persistent infection." #LymeDisease

@jbiolchem "Accordingly, the vls locus is the most evolutionarily diverse genetic element in Lyme disease–causing borreliae."

@jbiolchem "Antigenic variation is commonly found in evolutionarily diverse obligate parasites as persistent infection imparts a distinct advantage for transmission of these organisms."

@jbiolchem "A few examples are P. falciparum (malaria), T brucei (African sleeping sickness), Giardia lamblia (giardiasis or beaver fever), N.gonorrhoeae (gonorrhea), T.pallidum (syphilis), P.carinii (diffuse pneumonia), relapsing fever Borrelia, and Lyme Borrelia #LymeDisease

@jbiolchem "antigenic variation makes an attractive target for drug development for Lyme disease since switching at vlsE is a requirement for persistence."

@jbiolchem "an increasing number of reports of spirochetes that survive antibiotics in treated animals has recently appeared... these unexpected findings suggest the ability of Borrelia spirochetes to survive long term in the presence of antibiotics." #LymeDisease