G1SecL05: Difference between revisions

Vaccine efficiency was evaluated by immunizing mice with LYMErix and using ELISA to measure their serum antibody response to ospA.  In 1996, clinical trials conducted in highly endemic areas of the United States with sample size exceeding 10,000 subjects, LYMErix was found to confer protective immunity to ''B. burgdorferi'' in 76% of adults and 100% of children with only mild and transient short term effects<ref name = "epitope"/>.

Initial approaches for vaccines to treat lyme disease solely focused on ospA after studies involving passive immunization in mice. Studies indicated that passive immunization in mice only occurred if the blood from humans infected with Lyme disease contained anti-ospA monoclonal antibodies<ref name =<ref name="quantitative"/> .  Although ospA vaccines, such as Lymerix, were able to halt transmission of the spirochetes, they were immediately pulled from the market due to chronic side effects such as severe arthritis. Additionally, quantitative analysis of immune response<ref name= "quantitative">PMID:11865439</ref> of the whole ospA indicated that it is not predictive of protection.

Recent developments in vaccines against Lyme Borreliosis emphasize the need to utilize the LA-2 –ospA complex on the basis that it, as a result of its specificity, induces long- term immune response in mice during previously studied clinical trials. Passive immunization of mice that resulted with significant titers of LA-2 serum antibody had a strong correlation with protection against tick transmission of infection<ref>PMID: 23407755</ref>. The LA-2 ospA complex constitutes the interaction between ''Borrelia'' membrane ospA and LA-2 fab, an epitope of the ospA associated with protective immunity after vaccination.<ref name ="epitope"/>

===Structure of LA-2 OspA complex ===

<Structure load='1FJ1' size='400' frame='true' align='right' scene='Studio:G1SecL01/2/1' /><scene name='Studio:G1SecL01/2/1'>Initial Scene</scene>