Characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi associated antigens by monoclonal antibodies.

In this paper, we present a series of murine mAb recognizing B. burgdorferi antigens. The antibodies were characterized by immuno-blotting and immuno-fluorescence studies using isolates of B. burgdorferi from North America and Europe, respectively. Moreover, reactivity of the antibodies with recombinant B. burgdorferi flagellin and OspA was studied. The results suggest these anti-B. burgdorferi mAb as valuable tools for the serological analysis of B. burgdorferi isolates and for affinity-purification of the respective proteins. Moreover, these mAb appear suitable to classify antigenic variants of B. burgdorferi and to study the protective capacity of antibodies in a murine model for B. burgdorferi infection.