Linda K. Bockenstedt

TL;DR: Fibrocytes are a rich source of inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, and chemokines that provide important intercellular signals within the context of the local tissue environment and may play an important etiopathogenic role in disease development.

TL;DR: It is shown that OspC strongly binds to the tick salivary gland, suggesting a role for OSpC in spirochete adherence to this tissue, and conclusively demonstrate the importance of OSPC in the invasion of tickSalivary glands by B. burgdorferi, a critical step in the transmission of spiroChetes from the arthropod vector to the mammalian host.

TL;DR: Results show that CD1d deficiency impairs host resistance to a spirochete pathogen, and are the first example of a mutation that imparts Bb-resistant mice with the Ab and disease profile of a susceptible mouse strain.

TL;DR: The in vivo adaptation of a cloned population of B. burgdorferi strain N40 during the early course of experimental murine borreliosis shows that Osp C is indeed expressed by some spirochetes after infection in the mouse, and indicates that either OSp C is upregulated on spiro Chets after infection, or OspC- expressing spiroChetes expand preferentially over those expressing Osp A during infection.

TL;DR: It is observed that Borrelia burgdorferi antigens, but not infectious spirochetes, can remain adjacent to cartilage for extended periods after antibiotic treatment, and proposed that these deposits could contribute to the development of antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis.