Figure 7.

CspA of B. mayonii MN14-1420 facilitates resistance of Borrelia to complement-mediated killing. (A) Determination of FH binding to vital spirochetes. B. burgdorferi LW2, B. garinii G1, and B. garinii strain G1 producing CspA of B. mayonii MN14-1420 (G1/pCspA_Bmayo) were incubated in NHS-EDTA and cell-bound proteins were eluted using 0.1 M glycine. The last wash (w) and the eluate (e) fractions were separated by glycine-SDS-PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose. For detection of molecules of the FH protein family, a polyclonal anti-FH antibody (dilution 1:1,000) was applied. The mobilities of molecular mass standards are shown to the left of the panel. A full scan of the original membranes is presented in Supplementary Figure 9. (B) Survival of G1/pCspA_Bmayo, B. burgdorferi LW2, and B. garinii G1 in 50% NHS was monitored by dark-field microscopy. Viability and motility of borrelial cells were determined at 1, 2, 4, and 6 h. At least four independent experiments were conducted, each with very similar results. ^****p ≤ 0.0001; one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post test (confidence interval = 95%).