Radolf and Caimano Laboratory

Publications

Lyme Disease/Borrelia Burgdorferi

Groshong AM, Grassmann AA, Luthra A, McLain MA, Provatas AA, Radolf JD, Caimano MJ.  PlzA is a bifunctional c-di-GMP biosensor that promotes tick and mammalian host-adaptation of Borrelia burgdorferi. PLoS Pathog. 2021; 17(7):e1009725. PMID: 34265024, PMCID: PMC8323883.

Caimano MJ, Drecktrah D, Kung F, Samuels DS. Interaction of the Lyme disease spirochete with its tick vector. Cellular Microbiology. 2016; 18(7):919-27. PMID: 27147446, PMCID: PMC5067140.

Gulia-Nuss et al., Genomic insights into the Ixodes scapularis tick vector of Lyme disease. Nature Communications. 2016; 7:10507. PMID: 26856261, PMCID: PMC4748124.

Bauer WJ, Luthra A, Zhu G, Radolf JD, Malkowski MG, Caimano MJ. Structural characterization and modeling of the Borrelia burgdorferi hybrid histidine kinase Hk1 periplasmic sensor: A system for sensing small molecules associated with tick feeding. Journal of Structural Biology. 2015; 192(1):48-58. PMID: 26321039, PMCID: PMC4605270.

Caimano MJ, Dunham-Ems S, Allard AM, Cassera MB, Kenedy M, Radolf JD. Cyclic di-GMP modulates gene expression in Lyme disease spirochetes at the tick-mammal interface to promote spirochete survival during the blood meal and tick-to-mammal transmission. Infection and Immunity. 2015; 83(8):3043-60. PMID:25987708, PMCID: PMC4496621.

Iyer R, Caimano MJ, Luthra A, Axline D Jr, Corona A, Iacobas DA, Radolf JD, Schwartz I. Stage-specific global alterations in the transcriptomes of Lyme disease spirochetes during tick feeding and following mammalian host adaptation. Molecular Microbiology. 2015; 95(3):509-38. PMID: 25425211, PMCID: PMC4429771.

Brandt KS, Patton TG, Allard AS, Caimano MJ, Radolf JD, Gilmore RD. Evaluation of the Borrelia burgdorferi BBA64 protein as a protective immunogen in mice. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. 2014; 21(4):526-33. PMID:24501342, PMCID: PMC3993113.

Miller KA, Motaleb MA, Liu J, Hu B, Caimano MJ, Miller MR, Charon NW. Initial characterization of the FlgE hook high molecular weight complex of Borrelia burgdorferi. PloS One. 2014; 9(5):e98338. PMID: 24859001, PMCID:PMC4032328.

Salman-Dilgimen A, Hardy PO, Radolf JD, Caimano MJ, Chaconas G. HrpA, an RNA helicase involved in RNA processing, is required for mouse infectivity and tick transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete. PLoS Pathogens. 2013; 9(12):e1003841. PMID: 24367266, PMCID: PMC3868530.

Burgdorferi Radolf JD. Pulling the trigger on Lyme arthritis. J Infect Dis 2013; 207:877-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23303814.

Dunham-Ems SM, Caimano MJ, Eggers CH, Radolf JD. Borrelia burgdorferi Requires the Alternative Sigma Factor RpoS for Dissemination within the Vector during Tick-to-Mammal Transmission. PLoS Pathog. 2012 Feb;8(2):e1002532. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22359504.

Harman MW, Dunham-Ems SM, Caimano MJ, Belperron AA, Bockenstedt LK, Fu HC, Radolf JD, Wolgemuth CW. The heterogeneous motility of the Lyme disease spirochete in gelatin mimics dissemination through tissue. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Feb 21;109(8):3059-64. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22315410.

Hawley KL, Olson CM Jr, Iglesias-Pedraz JM, Navasa N, Cervantes JL, Caimano MJ, Izadi H, Ingalls RR, Pal U, Salazar JC, Radolf JD, Anguita J. CD14 cooperates with complement receptor 3 to mediate MyD88-independent phagocytosis of Borrelia burgdorferi. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jan 24;109(4):1228-32. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22232682.

Radolf JD, Caimano MJ, Stevenson B, Hu LT. Of ticks, mice and men: understanding the dual-host lifestyle of Lyme disease spirochaetes. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2012 Jan 9;10(2):87-99. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro2714.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22230951.

Eggers CH, Caimano MJ, Malizia RA, Kariu T, Cusack B, Desrosiers DC, Hazlett KR, Claiborne A, Pal U, Radolf JD. The coenzyme A disulphide reductase of Borrelia burgdorferi is important for rapid growth throughout the enzootic cycle and essential for infection of the mammalian host. Mol Microbiol. 2011 Nov;82(3):679-97. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07845.x. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21923763.

Pappas CJ, Iyer R, Petzke MM, Caimano MJ, Radolf JD, Schwartz I. Borrelia burgdorferi requires glycerol for maximum fitness during the tick phase of the enzootic cycle. PLoS Pathog. 2011 Jul;7(7):e1002102.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21750672.

Caimano MJ, Kenedy MR, Kairu T, Desrosiers DC, Harman M, Dunham-Ems S, Akins DR, Pal U, Radolf JD. The Hybrid Histidine Kinase Hk1 Is Part of a Two-Component System That Is Essential for Survival of Borrelia burgdorferi in Feeding Ixodes scapularis Ticks. Infect Immun 2011 Aug;79(8):3117-30. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21750672.

Banik S, Terekhova D, Iyer R, Pappas CJ, Caimano MJ, Radolf JD, Schwartz I. BB0844, an RpoS-regulated protein, is dispensable for Borrelia burgdorferi infectivity and maintenance in the mouse-tick infectious cycle. Infect Immun. 2011 Mar;79(3):1208-17. Epub 2010 Dec 20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21173312.

Xu H, Caimano MJ, Lin T, He M, Radolf JD, Norris SJ, Gherardini F, Wolfe AJ, Yang XF. Role of Acetyl-Phosphate in activation of the Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS pathway in Borrelia burgdoreri. PLoS Pathog. 2010 Sep 16;6(9). pii: e1001104. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20862323.

Samuels DS, Radolf JD. Who is the BosR around here anyway? Mol Microbiol. 2009 Dec;74(6):1295-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19943896.

Dunham-Ems S, Caimano MJ, Pal U, Wolgemuth CW, Eggers CH, Balic A, and Radolf JD. Live imaging reveals a novel, biphasic mode of dissemination of Borrelia burgdorferi within ticks. J Clin Invest 2009; 119:3652-3665. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19920352.

Mulay VB, Caimano MJ, Iyer R, Ems S, Liveris D, Petzke MM, Schwartz I, and Radolf JD. Borrelia burgdorferi bba74 is expressed exclusively during tick feeding and is regulated by both arthropod- and mammalian host-specific signals. J Bacteriol 2009; 191:2783-2794. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19218390.

Radolf JD and Caimano MJ. MicroCommentary: The long strange trip of Borrelia burgdorferi OspC. Mol Micro 2008; 69:1-4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18399935.

Caimano MJ, Iyer R, Eggers CH, Gonzalez C, Morton EA, Gilbert MA, Schwartz I, and Radolf JD. Analysis of the RpoS regulon in Borrelia burgdorferi in response to mammalian host signals provides insight into RpoS function during the enzootic cycle. Mol Microbiol 2007; 65:1193-1217. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17645733.

Syphilis/Treponema Pallidum

Radolf JD, Deka RK, Anand A, Šmajs D, Norgard MV, Yang XF. Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete: making a living as a stealth pathogen. Nat Rev. Microbiol. 2016 Dec;14(12):744-759. doi: 10.1038/nrmicro.2016.141. PMID: 27721440; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5106329.

Luthra A, Anand A, Radolf JD. Treponema pallidum in Gel Microdroplets: A method for topological analysis of BamA (TP0326) and localization of rare outer membrane proteins. Methods Mol Biol. 2015;1329:67-75. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-2871-2_6. PubMed PMID: 26427677.

Luthra A, Anand A, Hawley KL, LeDoyt M, La Vake CJ, Caimano MJ, Cruz AR, Salazar JC, Radolf JD. A Homology model reveals novel structural features and an immunodominant surface loop/opsonic target in the Treponema pallidum BamA ortholog TP_0326. J Bacteriol. 2015 Jun;197(11):1906-20. doi: 10.1128/JB.00086-15. PubMed PMID: 25825429; PMCID: PMC4420902.

Anand A, LeDoyt M, Karanian C, Luthra A, Koszelak-Rosenblum M, Malkowski MG, Puthenveetil R, Vinogradova O, Radolf JD. Bipartite topology of Treponema pallidum Repeat Proteins C/D and I: Outer membrane insertion, trimerization, and porin function require a c-terminal β-barrel domain. J Biol Chem. 2015, 290(19):12313-31. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M114.629188. PMID: 25805501; PMCID: PMC4424362.

Harman M, Vig DK, Radolf JD, Wolgemuth CW. Viscous dynamics of Lyme disease and syphilis spirochetes reveal flagellar torque and drag. Biophys J. 2013 Nov 19;105(10):2273-80. doi: 10.1016/j.bpj.2013.10.004. PubMed PMID: 24268139; PMCID: PMC3838743.

Silver AC, Dunne DW, Zeiss CJ, Bockenstedt LK, Radolf JD, Salazar JC, Fikrig E. MyD88 deficiency markedly worsens tissue inflammation and bacterial clearance in mice infected with Treponema pallidum, the agent of syphilis. PLoS One. 2013 Aug 5;8(8):e71388. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071388. PMID: 23940747; PMCID: PMC3734110.

Silver AC, Dunne DW, Zeiss CJ, Bockenstedt LK, Radolf JD, Salazar JC, and Fikrig. MyD88 deficiency markedly worsens tissue inflammation and bacterial clearance in mice infected with Treponema pallidum, the agent of syphilis. PLoS One 2013; 8: e71388. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23940747.

Luthra A, Zhu G, Desrosiers DC, Eggers CH, Mulay V, Anand A, McArthur FA, Romano FB, Caimano MJ, Heuck AP, Malkowski MG, Radolf JD. The transition from closed to open conformation of Treponema pallidum outer membrane-associated lipoprotein TP0453 inovlves membrane sensing and integration by two amphipathic helices. J Biol Chem. 2011 Dec 2;286(48):41656-68. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21965687.

Hoover KW, Radolf JD. Serodiagnosis of syphilis in the recombinant era: reversal of fortune. J Infect Dis. 2011 Nov;204(9):1295-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21921204.

Desrosiers DC, Anand A, Luthra A, Dunham-Ems SM, LeDoyt M, Cummings MA, Eshghi A, Cameron CE, Cruz AR, Salazar JC, Caimano MJ, Radolf JD. TP0326, a Treponema pallidum β-barrel assembly machinera A (BamA) orthologue and rare outer membrane protein. Mol Microbiol. 2011 Jun;80(6):1496-515. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07662.x. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21488980.

Desrosiers DC, Bearden SW, Mier I Jr, Abney J, Paulley JT, Fetherston JD, Salazar JC, Radolf JD, Perry RD. Znu is the predominant zinc importer in Yersinia pestis during in vitro growth but is not essential for virulence. Infect Immun. 2010 Dec;78(12):5163-77. Epub 2010 Sep 20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20855510.

Cox DL, Luthra A, Dunham-Ems S, Desrosiers DC, Salazar JC, Caimano MJ, Radolf JD. Surface immunolabeling and concensus computational framework to identify candidate rare outermembrane proteins of Treponema palladium. Infect Immun. 2010 Dec;78(12):5178-94. Epub 2010 Sep 27. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20876295.

Cruz AR, Pillay A, Zuluaga AV, Ramirez LG, Duque JE, Aristizabal GE, Fiel-Gan MD, Jaramillo R, Trujillo R, Valencia C, Jagodzinski L, Cox DL, Radolf JD, Salazar JC. Secondary syphilis in Cali, Colombia: new concepts in disease pathogenesis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010 May 18;4(5):e690. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20502522.

Parsonage D, Desrosiers DC, Hazlett KRO, Sun Y, Nelson KJ, Cox DL, Radolf JD and Poole LB. Broad specificity AhpC-like peroxiredoxin and its thioredoxin reductant in the sparse antioxidant defense system of Treponama pallidum. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci 2010; 107:6240-6245. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20304799?dopt=Citation.

Desrosiers DC, Sun YC, Zaidi AA, Eggers CH, Cox DL, and Radolf JD. The general transition metal (Tro) and Zn2+ (Znu) transporters in Treponema pallidum: analysis of metal-specificities and expression profiles. Mol Microbiol 2007; 65:137-152. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17581125?dopt=Citation.

Hazlett KRO, Cox DL, Decaffmeyer M, Bennett MP, Desrosiers DC, La Vake CJ, La Vake ME, Bourell KE, Robinson EJ, Brasseur R, and Radolf JD. TP0453, a concealed outer membrane protein of Treponema pallidum, enhances membrane permeability. J Bacteriol 2005; 187:6499-6508. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16159783.

Hazlett KRO, Rusnak F, Kehres DG, Bearden SW, La Vake CJ, La Vake ME, Maguire ME, Perry RD, and Radolf J D. The Treponema pallidum tro operon encodes a multiple metal transporter, a Zn-dependent transcriptional repressor, and a semi-autonomously expressed phosphoglycerate mutase. J Biol Chem 2003; 278:20687-20695. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12668673.

Hazlett KR, Sellati TJ, Nguyen TT, Cox DL, Clawson ML, Caimano MJ, and Radolf JD.The TprK protein of Treponema pallidum is periplasmic and is not a target of opsonic antibody or protective immunity. J Exp Med 2001; 193:1015-1026. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11342586.

Lee YH, Deka RK, Norgard MV, Radolf JD and Haseman CA. Treponema pallidum TroA is a periplasmic zinc-binding protein with a helical backbone. Nature Struct. Biol. 1999;6:628-633. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10404217.

Radolf JD, Norgard MV, and Schulz W W. Outer membrane ultrastructure explains the limited antigenicity of virulent Treponema pallidum. Proc Natl Acad Sci (USA) 1989; 86:2051‑2055. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2648388.

Oral Spirochetes/Treponema denticola

Miller DP, Oliver LD Jr, Tegels BK, Reed LA, O'Bier NS, Kurniyati K, Faust LA, Lawson CK, Allard AM, Caimano MJ, Marconi RT. The Treponema denticola FhbB protein is a dominant early antigen that elicits FhbB variant-specific antibodies that block Factor H binding and cleavage by Dentilisin. Infection and Immunity. 2016 Jun 23;84(7):2051-8. doi: 10.1128/IAI.01542-15. PMID:27113359; PMCID: PMC4936362.

Anand A, Luthra A, Edmond ME, Ledoyt M, Caimano MJ, and Radolf JD. The major outer sheath protein (Msp) of Treponema denticola has a partite domain architecture and exists as periplasmic and outer membrane-spanning conformers. J Bacteriol. 2013; 195:2060-2171. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23457251.

Miller DP, McDowell JV, Rhodes DV, Allard A, Caimano M, Bell JK, Marconi RT. Sequence divergence in the Treponema denticola FhbB protein and its impact on Factor H binding. Mol Oral Microbiol. 2013 Aug;28(4):316-30. doi: 10.1111/omi.12027. Epub 2013 Apr 22. PubMed PMID: 23601078; PMCID:PMC3785937.

Leptospira interrogans

Grassmann AA, Caimano MJ. Cultivation of Leptospira interrogans Within Rat Peritoneal Dialysis Membrane Chambers. Methods Mol Biol. 2020; 2134:229-242. PMID: 32632874.

Nally JE, Grassmann AA, Planchon S, Sergeant K, Renaut J, Seshu J, McBride AJA, Caimano MJ. Pathogenic Leptospires Modulate Protein Expression and Post-translational Modifications in Response to Mammalian Host Signals. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2017; 7:362. PMID: 28848720, PMCID: PMC5553009.

Grassmann AA, McBride AJ, Nally JE, Caimano MJ. Generation of mammalian host-adapted Leptospira interrogans by cultivation in peritoneal dialysis membrane chamber implantation in rats. Bio-protocol. 2015; 5(14). PMID: 26258158, PMCID: PMC4529132.

Caimano MJ, Sivasankaran SK, Allard A, Hurley D, Hokamp K, Grassmann AA, Hinton, JC, Nally JE. A model system for studying the transcriptomic and physiological changes associated with mammalian host-adaptation by Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni. PLoS Pathogens. 2014;10(3):e1004004. PMID:24626166, PMCID: PMC3953431.

View more publications, see Pubmed listing.