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- Bárcena-Uribarri, Iván, et al.
(author)
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P66 porins are present in both Lyme disease and relapsing fever spirochetes : a comparison of the biophysical properties of P66 porins from six Borrelia species
- 2010
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In: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes. - : Elsevier. - 0005-2736 .- 1879-2642. ; 1798:6, s. 1197-1203
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The genus Borrelia is the cause of the two human diseases: Lyme disease (LD) and relapsing fever (RF). BothLD and RF Borrelia species are obligate parasites and are dependent on nutrients provided by their hosts. Thefirst step of nutrient uptake across the outer membrane of these Gram-negative bacteria is accomplished bywater-filled channels, so-called porins. The knowledge of the porin composition in the outer membranes ofthe different pathogenic Borrelia species is limited. Only one porin has been described in relapsing feverspirochetes to date, whereas four porins are known to be present in Lyme disease agents. From these, theBorrelia burgdorferi outer membrane channel P66 is known to act as an adhesin and was well studied as aporin. To investigate if P66 porins are expressed and similarly capable of pore formation in other Borreliacausing Lyme disease or relapsing fever three LD species (B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii, B. garinii) and three RFspecies (B. duttonii, B. recurrentis and B. hermsii) were investigated for outer membrane proteins homologousto P66. A search in current published RF genomes, comprising the ones of B. duttonii, B. recurrentis and B.hermsii, indicated that they all contained P66 homologues. The P66 homologues of the six Borrelia specieswere purified to homogeneity and their pore-forming abilities as well as the biophysical properties of thepores were analyzed using the black lipid bilayer assay.
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