ArticlePloS one2013
Variable VlsE is critical for host reinfection by the Lyme disease spirochete.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cutaneous Lyme borreliosis: Guideline of the German Dermatology Society.German medical science : GMS e-journal · 2025Guideline
- Cutaneous Lyme borreliosis: Guideline of the German Dermatology Society.German medical science : GMS e-journal · 2017Guideline
- Mostly getting along -Borrelia burgdorferi and its manipulation of the host immune system.ImmunoHorizons · 2026Review
- Testing the capacity of humanized immune system mice to induce a protective antibody response against the Lyme disease pathogen.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Breaking a barrier: In trans vlsE recombination and genetic manipulation of the native vlsE gene of the Lyme disease pathogen.PLoS pathogens · 2025Article
- Do white-footed mice, the main reservoir of the Lyme disease pathogen in the United States, clinically respond to the borrelial tenancy?Infection and immunity · 2024Article
- Suppression of host humoral immunity byInfection and immunity · 2024Article
- Meta-analysis of the Vmp-like sequences of Lyme diseaseFrontiers in microbiology · 2024Article
- Subversion of the immune response of human pathogenic spirochetes.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2022Review
- Immune Response toCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2021Article
- Lyme Disease Pathogenesis.Current issues in molecular biology · 2021Review
- Review
- Proteomic as an Exploratory Approach to Develop Vaccines Against Tick-Borne Diseases Using Lyme Borreliosis as a Test Case.Vaccines · 2020Article
- The Borrelia burgdorferi VlsE Lipoprotein Prevents Antibody Binding to an Arthritis-Related Surface Antigen.Cell reports · 2020Article
- Changing of the guard: How the Lyme disease spirochete subverts the host immune response.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2020Review
- Article
- Delineating Surface Epitopes of Lyme Disease Pathogen Targeted by Highly Protective Antibodies of New Zealand White Rabbits.Infection and immunity · 2019Article
- New Zealand White Rabbits Effectively Clear Borrelia burgdorferi B31 despite the Bacterium's FunctionalInfection and immunity · 2019Article
- Recent discoveries and advancements in research on the Lyme disease spirocheteF1000Research · 2019Review
- Identification of Surface Epitopes Associated with Protection against Highly Immune-Evasive VlsE-Expressing Lyme Disease Spirochetes.Infection and immunity · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Many pathogens make use of antigenic variation as a way to evade the host immune response. A key mechanism for immune evasion and persistent infection by the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, is antigenic variation of the VlsE surface protein. Recombination results in changes in the VlsE surface protein that prevent recognition by VlsE-specific antibodies in the infected host. Despite the presence of a substantial number of additional proteins residing on the bacterial surface, VlsE is the only known antigen that exhibits ongoing variation of its surface epitopes. This suggests that B. burgdorferi may utilize a VlsE-mediated system for immune avoidance of its surface antigens. To address this, the requirement of VlsE for host reinfection by the Lyme disease pathogen was investigated. Host-adapted wild type and VlsE mutant spirochetes were used to reinfect immunocompetent mice that had naturally cleared an infection with a VlsE-deficient clone. Our results demonstrate that variable VlsE is necessary for reinfection by B. burgdorferi, and this ability is directly related to evasion of the host antibody response. Moreover, the data presented here raise the possibility that VlsE prevents recognition of B. burgdorferi surface antigens from host antibodies. Overall, our findings represent a significant advance in our knowledge of immune evasion by B. burgdorferi, and provide insight to the possible mechanisms involved in VlsE-mediated immune avoidance.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.