“…Erps and CRASP-1 interact with complement regulatory proteins such as factor H and factor H-like protein 1, and are encoded on the cp32 family of plasmids and lp54, respectively (12,20). To evade adaptive immunity, B. burgdorferi dramatically up-regulates immune evasion genes such as vlsE (13,39,65), consistent with the well-defined role of lp28-1, which carries the gene, in the establishment of chronic infection in immunocompetent mice (32,48,59,65). In addition, ligandbinding lipoproteins such as decorin-binding proteins A and B, encoded on lp54, and fibronectin-binding protein, carried by lp36, may help the spirochete colonize the host tissues and establish chronic infection in the immune environment (9,23,35,46).…”