Vaccines to prevent Lyme borreliosis

Lyme borreliosis, also known as Lyme disease, is the most prevalent tick-borne disease in Europe and in Northern America. This vector-borne disease is causing major health concerns in the Northern hemisphere because untreated it may lead to long-lasting or severe complications. Strategies for prevention of Lyme borreliosis include vector control and vaccines. However, there is currently no human vaccine available to prevent Lyme borreliosis.
Vaccines to prevent Lyme borreliosis should either kill the pathogen, B. burgdorferi sl, to prevent infection, or target the vector, the Ixodes tick, to prevent successful transmission of B. burgdorferi sl from the tick to the host. Gaining more insight into the mechanisms underlying tick immunity and knowing which proteins are involved may help us understand how to interfere with tick attachment, tick feeding and subsequent transmission of tick-borne pathogens.
In this thesis various vaccination approaches, as well as several vaccine candidates from both tick and spirochete, are investigated. In addition, we aimed to identify novel vaccine candidates by using quantitative proteomics. We put forward that combining antigens - from both B. burgdorferi sl and the tick vector - and using an appropriate vaccination platform, constitutes a promising approach in the quest for a broadly protective and efficacious vaccine to prevent Lyme borreliosis. It is our hope that this knowledge can be used in the future to come to efficacious and safe ways to prevent Lyme borreliosis and ideally also other tick-borne diseases.