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A more recent version of this article appeared on June 23, 2006
Papers In Press, published online ahead of print April 18, 2006
J. Biol. Chem, 10.1074/jbc.M513571200
Submitted on December 21, 2005
Accepted on April 18, 2006
Hepatitis B virus capsid-like particles can display the complete, dimeric outer surface protein C (OspC) and stimulate production of protective antibody responses against Borrelia burgdorferi infection
Claudia Skamel, Martin Ploss, Bettina Böttcher, Thomas Stehle, Reinhard Wallich, Markus M. Simon, and Michael Nassal
Internal Medicine II / Molecular Biology, University Hospital Freiburg, University Hospital, Freiburg D-79106
Corresponding Author: nassal2{at}ukl.uni-freiburg.de
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid-like particles (CLPs), icosahedral assemblies formed by 90 or 120 core protein dimers, hold promise as immune-enhancing vaccine carrier for heterologous antigens. Insertions into the immunodominant c/e1 B cell epitope, a surface-exposed loop, are especially immunogenic. However, display of whole proteins, desirable to induce multispecific, and possibly neutralizing antibody responses, can be restrained by an unsuitable structure of the foreign protein and by its propensity to undergo homomeric interactions. Here we analyzed CLP formation by core fusions with two distinct variants of the dimeric outer surface lipoprotein C (OspC) of the Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi. Although the topology of the termini in the OspC dimer does not match that of the insertion sites in the carrier dimer, both fusions, coreOspCa and coreOspCb, efficiently formed stable CLPs. Electron cryo microscopy clearly revealed the surface disposition of the OspC domains, possibly with OspC dimerization occurring across different core protein dimers. In mice, both CLP preparations induced high-titered antibody responses against the homologous OspC variant, however with cross-reactivity against the other. Importantly, both conferred protection to mice challenged with B. burgdorferi. These data show the principal applicability of HBV CLPs for the display of dimeric proteins, demonstrate the presence in OspC of hitherto uncharacterized epitopes, and suggest that OspC, despite its genetic variability, may be a valid vaccine candidate.

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Copyright © 2006 by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
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