Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 11, 2026
Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR
Published on: February 4, 2018
Rabies virus-vectored Lyme disease vaccine provides long-term protection against tick-transmitted Borrelia
Shantel Rios1,2, Bibek Bhattachan3, Christoph Wirblich1
1Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Lyme disease (LD) cases have doubled globally. LD is a tick-borne illness caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bb). If untreated, Bb can disseminate to distal organs, causing carditis, arthritis, and meningitis. Currently, no FDA-approved human LD vaccine exists on the market. This study used two approaches to incorporate OspA into the rabies virus (RABV) vaccine vector. We used the RABV-glycoprotein tail (RVG tail) and the Hendra virus (HeV) glycoprotein tail (HVG tail) to incorporate OspA, creating BNSP333-OspA-RVG and BNSP333-OspA-HVG, respectively. Both vaccines produced type-1 biased anti-OspA antibodies, but only BNSP333-OspA-HVG induced neutralizing antibodies and protected against Bb infection. Furthermore, BNSP333-OspA-HVG was combined with an established LD vaccine, BNSP333-BBI39-dRVG, to study a multivalent LD vaccine. The single and multivalent vaccines produced robust type-1 biased humoral responses and induced protection against Bb after short-term and long-term tick challenge experiments. These findings contributed to the development of future LD vaccines.
Lyme disease (LD) cases have doubled globally. LD is a tick-borne illness caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bb). If untreated, Bb can disseminate to distal organs, causing carditis, arthritis, and meningitis. Currently, no FDA-approved human LD vaccine exists on the market. This study used two approaches to incorporate OspA into the rabies virus (RABV) vaccine vector. We used the RABV-glycoprotein tail (RVG tail) and the Hendra virus (HeV) glycoprotein tail (HVG tail) to incorporate OspA, creating BNSP333-OspA-RVG and BNSP333-OspA-HVG, respectively. Both vaccines produced type-1 biased anti-OspA antibodies, but only BNSP333-OspA-HVG induced neutralizing antibodies and protected against Bb infection. Furthermore, BNSP333-OspA-HVG was combined with an established LD vaccine, BNSP333-BBI39-dRVG, to study a multivalent LD vaccine. The single and multivalent vaccines produced robust type-1 biased humoral responses and induced protection against Bb after short-term and long-term tick challenge experiments. These findings contributed to the development of future LD vaccines.
