G18secL03Tpc4

Outer surface protein C (OspC)of Borrelia burgdorferiOuter surface protein C (OspC)of Borrelia burgdorferi

One of the major antigens on the surface of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, is the outer surface protein C (OspC) (Kumaran 2001). It greatly differs from other outer surface proteins, such as OspA and OspB in both structure and function. The uniqueness of OspC is that it comes into play when the pathogen is being transmitted to humans or other mammals. OspC is being produced by Borrelia burgdorferi when infected ticks feed, but its synthesis known to slow down greatly after transmission to a mammalian host. It was demonstrated that those spirochetes that lack OspC are capable to replicate inside and migrate to the salivary glands of the tick vector but do not infect mammals (Kumaran 2001). Therefore, OspC is believed to determine virulence of the spirochete to mammals, including humans.