Pathogenic spirochetes bind and interact with various host structures and molecules throughout the course of infection. By utilizing their outer surface molecules, spirochetes can effectively modulate their dissemination, interact with immune system regulators, and select specific destination niches within the host. The three-dimensional structures of multiple spirochetal surface proteins have been elucidated, providing insight into their modus operandi. This review focuses on the structural characteristics of these sticky molecules and their functional implications, highlighting how these features contribute to the pathogenicity of spirochetes and their ability to persist in the host and vector environments. Recognizing the structural motifs and ligands to which these important virulence determinants bind could open new avenues for developing strategies to block colonization by spirochetal pathogens.

• Klíčová slova
• Borrelia, Leptospira, Treponema, adhesins, atomic structure, infection, lipoproteins, nuclear magnetic resonance, spirochetes, x‐ray crystallography,
• MeSH
• bakteriální proteiny chemie   MeSH
• interakce mikroorganismu a hostitele * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• ligandy MeSH
• membránové proteiny chemie   MeSH
• Spirochaetales * chemie   MeSH
• spirochetové infekce * mikrobiologie   MeSH
• terciární struktura proteinů MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• bakteriální proteiny MeSH
• ligandy MeSH
• membránové proteiny MeSH

We report here on the development of tailored plasmonic AgNPs/C:H:N:O plasma polymer nanocomposites for the detection of the pathogenic bacterium Borrelia afzelii , with high selectivity and sensitivity. Silver (Ag) nanoparticles, generated by a gas aggregation source, are incorporated onto a C:H:N:O plasma polymer matrix, which is deposited by magnetron sputtering of a nylon 6.6. These anchored Ag nanoparticles propagate localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), optically responding to changes caused by immobilized pathogens near the nanoparticles. The tailored functionalization of AgNPs/C:H:N:O nanocomposite surface allows both high selectivity for the pathogen and high sensitivity with an LSPR red-shift Δλ > (4.20 ± 0.71) nm for 50 Borrelia per area 0.785 cm2. The results confirmed the ability of LSPR modulation for the rapid and early detection of (not only) tested pathogens.

• Klíčová slova
• C:H:N:O thin film, Lyme disease, ag nanoparticles, borrelia, localized surface plasmon resonance, magnetron sputtering, nanocomposite, nylon, plasma polymer, surface functionalization,
• MeSH
• kovové nanočástice * chemie   MeSH
• limita detekce * MeSH
• nanokompozity * chemie   MeSH
• povrchová plasmonová rezonance * metody   MeSH
• stříbro * chemie   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• stříbro * MeSH

Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi often triggers pathophysiologic perturbations that are further augmented by the inflammatory responses of the host, resulting in the severe clinical conditions of Lyme disease. While our apprehension of the spatial and temporal integration of the virulence determinants during the enzootic cycle of B. burgdorferi is constantly being improved, there is still much to be discovered. Many of the novel virulence strategies discussed in this review are undetermined. Lyme disease spirochaetes must surmount numerous molecular and mechanical obstacles in order to establish a disseminated infection in a vertebrate host. These barriers include borrelial relocation from the midgut of the feeding tick to its body cavity and further to the salivary glands, deposition to the skin, haematogenous dissemination, extravasation from blood circulation system, evasion of the host immune responses, localization to protective niches, and establishment of local as well as distal infection in multiple tissues and organs. Here, the various well-defined but also possible novel strategies and virulence mechanisms used by B. burgdorferi to evade obstacles laid out by the tick vector and usually the mammalian host during colonization and infection are reviewed.

• Klíčová slova
• Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease, clinical manifestations, pathogenicity, tick-borne disease, virulence determinants,
• MeSH
• Borrelia burgdorferi * genetika   MeSH
• faktory virulence MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• lymeská nemoc * MeSH
• savci MeSH
• virulence MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH
• Názvy látek
• faktory virulence MeSH