Serodiagnosis of lyme disease by use of two recombinant proteins in ELISA
Two Borrelia burgdorferi recombinant proteins were expressed in E. coli . These two proteins were generated from (a) the full length dbpA gene combined with the invariable region 6 of the VlsE gene (dbpA/C6), and (b) the full length OspC gene combined with the coding sequence for amino acids 1-121 of the E. coli maltose binding protein gene (OspC/MBP). Methods of using these recombinant proteins for detecting anti- Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies in patient sera and diagnosis of Lyme Disease are described.
1. A recombinant protein consisting essentially of a Borrelia burgdorferi decorin-binding protein A (dbpA) peptide and a Borrelia burgdorferi C6 peptide.
2. The recombinant protein of claim 1 consisting essentially of a sequence as set forth as SEQ ID NO:10.
3. A method for detecting anti- Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies in a patient, the method comprising:
(a) obtaining a serum or plasma sample from a human patient; and
(b) detecting whether anti- Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies are present in the serum or plasma sample by contacting the serum or plasma sample with a dbpA/C6 recombinant protein consisting essentially of a Borrelia burgdorferi dbpA peptide and a Borrelia burgdorferi C6 peptide, and
(c) detecting binding between the anti- Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies and the dbpA/C6 recombinant protein.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the dbpA/C6 recombinant protein consists essentially of a sequence as set forth as SEQ ID NO:10.