Multivalent OspA Chimeric Polypeptide for Broad Lyme Vaccine Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Lyme borreliosis vaccines are complex and costly to produce, often requiring multiple antigens to achieve broad protection against Borrelia species and OspA serotypes.
Innovation Solution
Development of chimeric polypeptides based on a scaffold OspA fragment, altered to contain immunogenic portions from different OspA serotypes, using a structure-based surface shaping approach to create a multivalent OspA antigen that represents multiple serotypes on its surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple antigens are used to achieve broad protection against Borrelia species and OspA serotypes, then the protective efficacy is improved, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple OspA antigen sequences from different Borrelia species and serotypes into a single chimeric polypeptide construct. This multivalent OspA antigen combines immunogenic regions from multiple sources (e.g., B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii, B. garinii) into one unified vaccine molecule, achieving broad protection against multiple serotypes while simplifying the vaccine formulation from multiple separate antigens to a single composite antigen.
Solution Approach 2:
The chimeric OspA polypeptide is designed to perform multiple protective functions simultaneously by incorporating conserved and variable regions from different OspA serotypes. This single multivalent antigen can elicit immune responses against multiple Borrelia species and OspA serotypes, making the vaccine universally protective across diverse pathogenic variants rather than requiring separate vaccines for each serotype.
2Reliability
If multiple antigens are used to achieve broad protection against Borrelia species and OspA serotypes, then the protective efficacy is improved, but the manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple OspA antigen sequences from different Borrelia species and serotypes into a single chimeric polypeptide construct. This multivalent OspA antigen combines immunogenic regions from multiple sources (e.g., B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii, B. garinii) into one unified vaccine molecule, achieving broad protection against multiple serotypes while simplifying the vaccine formulation from multiple separate antigens to a single composite antigen.
3Device complexity
If a single multivalent OspA antigen is used, then the device complexity and manufacturing cost are reduced, but the challenge lies in designing an antigen that represents multiple serotypes effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The chimeric OspA polypeptide is constructed with local quality variations by incorporating specific immunogenic regions from different OspA serotypes at different positions within the single antigen. Each local region of the chimeric protein retains serotype-specific epitopes that can be recognized by antibodies against the corresponding Borrelia serotype, while the overall structure maintains stability and immunogenicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite antigen by combining amino acid sequences from multiple OspA sources into a single chimeric polypeptide. This composite structure integrates conserved regions that provide structural stability with variable regions that confer serotype-specific recognition, effectively creating a multi-functional antigen that represents multiple serotypes within one molecular entity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to an immunogenic polypeptide, a nucleic acid encoding the same, a pharmaceutical composition comprising the same and the immunogenic polypeptide, nucleic acid or pharmaceutical composition for use as a medicament, particularly a vaccine, or for use in a method of treating or preventing a Borrelia infection.