Fig 2. B. burgdorferi B314 strain expressing Tp0136 allelic variants bind to HEK293 more efficiently than to Vero cells but fail to adhere to HEp-2 cells.

Average binding of radiolabeled B. burgdorferi B314 expressing Tp0136 variants of the SS14 and Nichols strains to Vero cells was 6% and 8%, respectively. Percent of binding mediated by Nichols strain Tp0136 to HEK293 cells was significantly higher than binding by SS14 strain Tp0136. Both variants of Tp0136 bound poorly to the HEp-2 cells, which do not produce fibronectin. Statistical analysis was conducted using a two-tailed unpaired student t test for unequal variance to determine significant difference between the paired groups and p values calculated (*p<0.05).