FIG. 2.

Demonstration that BBA68 does not elicit an antibody response in mice or humans infected with the Lyme disease spirochetes. (A) The loading and integrity of r-BBA68 (1 μg per lane) and cell lysates of B. burgdorferi B31MI were assessed by Coomassie staining and by screening with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated S protein. r-BBA68 was also tested for factor H binding ability using the affinity ligand binding immunoblot assay. (B) Immunoblot strips containing B31MI cell lysate and r-BBA68 were screened with serum from mice infected with different strains of B. burgdorferi (indicated below each blot). Identical immunoblots were screened with serum from human Lyme disease patients with either early (C)- or late (D)-stage infections, respectively. All methods are described in the text.