Lyme Disease Vaccine Proteins Patented

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and others at Stony Brook University have received U.S. Patent Number 7,179,448 for developing chimeric, or "combination," proteins that may advance the development of vaccines for Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S., causing approximately 25,000 new cases each year. Early symptoms of the disease, which is spread by the bite of an infected deer tick, include a bull's-eye rash at the site of the bite and flu-like symptoms. If not promptly treated with antibiotics, it can lead to more serious symptoms, including joint and neurological complications.

The genetically engineered proteins combine pieces of two proteins that are normally present on the surface of the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, but at different parts of the organism's life cycle.

Brookhaven biologist John Dunn, a researcher on the BNL Lyme disease team states, "Combining pieces of these two proteins into one chimeric protein should trigger a 'one-two-punch' immune response more capable of fending off the bacterium than either protein alone."

This research was funded by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and by the National Institutes of Health.