Rabies virus-vectored Lyme disease vaccine provides long-term protection against tick-transmitted Borrelia burgdorferi.
Publication/Presentation Date
11-13-2025
Abstract
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.
Volume
10
Issue
1
First Page
231
Last Page
231
ISSN
2059-0105
Published In/Presented At
Rios, S., Bhattachan, B., Wirblich, C., Chandwani, A., Vavilikolanu, K., Myers, J. F., Kitsou, C., Pal, U., & Schnell, M. J. (2025). Rabies virus-vectored Lyme disease vaccine provides long-term protection against tick-transmitted Borrelia burgdorferi. NPJ vaccines, 10(1), 231. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-025-01294-8
Disciplines
Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
PubMedID
41233361
Department(s)
Administration and Leadership
Document Type
Article