MULTIVALENT OSPA POLYPEPTIDES AND METHODS AND USES RELATING THERETO

Abstract

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.

Claims

1. An immunogenic polypeptide comprising a stabilized C-terminal OspA domain, characterized in that said C-terminal OspA domain comprises two or more specific OspA epitopes each from distinct Borrelia strains causing Lyme Borreliosis; and wherein said C-terminal OspA domain is able to induce a protective immune response to all of said distinct Borrelia strains.

2. The immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1, wherein said C-terminal OspA domain comprises three or more specific OspA epitopes each from distinct Borrelia strains causing Lyme Borreliosis.

3. The immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1, wherein the Borrelia strains causing Lyme Borreliosis are selected from the group of Borrelia species comprising or consisting of B. burgdorferi s.s., B. afzelii, B. bavariensis, B. garinii, B. mayonii, B. lusitaniae, B. bissettii and B. spielmanii.

4. The immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1, wherein the C-terminal OspA domain comprises about 50% to 60% of the C-terminal end of the OspA protein, preferably about 55%.

5. The immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1. wherein the C-terminal OspA domain comprises or consists of approximately amino acids 126-273, wherein the numbering is taken from B. afzelii OspA (SEQ ID NO: 74).

6. The immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1, further comprising at least two introduced cysteine residues that form a stabilizing disulfide bond.

7. The immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1, wherein the C-terminal OspA domain is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 9; SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 13 and an immunogenic variant thereof that has at least 90% sequence identity with at least one of SEQ ID NO: 9; SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 12 or SEQ ID NO: 13.

8. The immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1, comprising C-terminal OspA (i) and/or C-terminal OspA (ii), wherein C-terminal OspA (i) is an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 9 and SEQ ID NO: 10, or immunogenic variant thereof, wherein said immunogenic variant has at least 90% sequence identity with SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 10; and C-terminal OspA (ii) is an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 12 and SEQ ID NO: 13, or an immunogenic variant thereof, wherein said immunogenic variant has at least 90% sequence identity with SEQ ID NO: 12 or SEQ ID NO: 13.

9. The immunogenic polypeptide of claim 8, wherein the immunogenic polypeptide is a fusion protein comprising peptide (i) and peptide (ii), wherein peptide (i) is a peptide with an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 9 and SEQ ID NO: 10, or immunogenic variant thereof, wherein said immunogenic variant has at least 90% sequence identity with SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 10; and peptide (ii) is a peptide with an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 12 and SEQ ID NO: 13, or an immunogenic variant thereof, wherein said immunogenic variant has at least 90% sequence identity with SEQ ID NO: 12 or SEQ ID NO: 13.

10. The immunogenic polypeptide of claim 9, wherein peptide (i) is N-terminal to peptide (ii) or wherein peptide (ii) is N-terminal to peptide (i); and optionally wherein peptide (i) and peptide (ii) are joined by a linker sequence wherein said linker sequence comprises or consists of ANNQAGQKSSGSTQATTPNLTFE (SEQ ID NO: 32).

11. (canceled)

12. The immunogenic polypeptide of claim 8, further comprising an N-terminal lipidation signal sequence, particularly wherein the N-terminal lipidation signal sequence is MKATKLVLGAVILGSTLLAGCSS (SEQ ID NO: 30).

13. The immunogenic polypeptide of claim 8, wherein the fusion protein comprises or consists of the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 28 (Lip-V3-L2-V5).

14. A nucleic acid encoding the immunogenic polypeptide of claim 8, wherein said nucleic acid comprises or consists of the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 29; wherein the nucleic acid is optionally comprised in a vector or cell.

15. (canceled)

16. A pharmaceutical composition comprising the immunogenic polypeptide according to claim 1 and optionally a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, optionally wherein said pharmaceutical composition is a vaccine.

17. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 16, wherein the pharmaceutically acceptable excipient comprises L-methionine or wherein the immunogenic polypeptide comprises or consists of the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 28 (Lip-V3-L2-V5).

18. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 16, further comprising at least one additional antigen from Borrelia or a pathogen other than Borrelia, particularly wherein the additional antigen is from a tick-borne pathogen, especially wherein the tick-borne pathogen is selected from the group comprising Borrelia hermsii, Borrelia parkeri, Borrelia duttoni, Borrelia miyamotoi, Borrelia turicatae, Rickettsia rickettsii, Rickettsia australis, Rickettsia conorii, Rickettsia helvetica, Rickettsia parkeri, Francisella tularensis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia sennetsu, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, Coxiella burnetii and Borrelia lonestari, Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Colorado tick fever virus (CTFV), Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV), Kyasanur forest disease virus (KFDV), Powassan virus, Heartland virus, Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever virus (OHFV) and Babesia spp., or particularly wherein the at least one additional antigen is comprised in a second vaccine composition, especially wherein the second vaccine composition is a tick-borne encephalitis vaccine, a Japanese encephalitis vaccine or a Rocky Mountain spotted fever vaccine.

19. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 16, characterized in that it further comprises an immunostimulatory substance, preferably selected from the group consisting of polycationic polymers, especially polycationic peptides, immunostimulatory oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs), especially oligo(dIdC).sub.13 (SEQ ID NO: 40), peptides containing at least two LysLeuLys motifs, especially peptide KLKLLLLLKLK (SEQ ID NO: 39), neuroactive compounds, especially human growth hormone, aluminium hydroxide or aluminium phosphate, Freund's complete or incomplete adjuvants, or combinations thereof, particularly wherein said immunostimulatory substance is a combination of either a polycationic polymer and immunostimulatory deoxynucleotides or of a peptide containing at least two LysLeuLys motifs and immunostimulatory deoxynucleotides, preferably a combination of KLKLLLLLKLK (SEQ ID NO: 39) and oligo(dIdC).sub.13 (SEQ ID NO: 40) or particularly wherein said polycationic peptide is polyarginine.

20. (canceled)

21. The immunogenic polypeptide of claim 1 for use as a medicament, particularly as a vaccine.

22. The immunogenic polypeptide of claim 1 for use in a method of treating or preventing a Borrelia infection, particularly a B. burgdorferi s.s., B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. andersoni, B. bavariensis, B. bissettii, B. valaisiana, B. lusitaniae, B. spielmanii, B. mayonii, B. japonica, B. tanukii, B. turdi or B. sinica infection, preferably a B. burgdorferi s.s., B. afzelii or B. garinii infection.

23. A method of designing a multivalent OspA antigen, said method comprising the steps of: a) providing a structural scaffold comprising the amino acid sequence of an OspA protein or fragment thereof; b) identifying potential immunogenic epitopes on the surface of said structural scaffold by in silico modelling based on the crystal structure of ST1 OspA (PDB accession 1OSP); c) altering the surface amino acids within one or more of said potential immunogenic epitopes on said structural scaffold to match the sequence of one or more different serotypes of Borrelia.

Description

FIGURES

[0213] FIG. 1 (A) Schematic representation of the partitioning of the molecular surface in multivalent OspA antigens of the invention, here modelled in the context of the crystal structure of the C-terminal region (domain) of serotype 1 (PDB accession 1OSP). Taking advantage of the high fold conservation among OspA serotypes 1-6, all Variants (Variants 1-6) in the study were constructed using the C-terminal region of B. afzelii OspA ST2 as a structural scaffold (aa 126-273, SEQ ID NO: 7). Surface modifications followed a scheme with two different layouts (“Layout 1” and “Layout 2”) of surface partitioning defining areas (a.k.a. “patches”) which were each modified to present surface residues of the respective serotype. Layout 1 comprises patches A, B, C, D and E, which in serotype 1 OspA contain binding sites (i.e., epitopes or partial epitopes) of monoclonal antibodies LA-2 (patch A), 336 (patch B), 105.5 (patch C), essential residues of the epitope for monoclonal antibody 4C10C2 as well as a linear epitope [LE] based on binding of antibodies from patient sera (patch D) and a combination of the monoclonal antibody C11178 binding site and the tick gut binding domain (TGBD) of OspA (patch E). Layout 2 comprises patches A, F, G and H, which are based on the corresponding serotype 1 OspA binding residues of LA-2 (patch A), an extended form of the binding region for mAb 336 (patch F, an extended version of patch B from Layout 1), LE as parts of the binding regions of mAbs 105.5 and 4C10C2 (patch G) and an extended form of the TGBD (patch H, an extended version of patch E of Layout 1). (B) Variants 1-4 are based on Layout 2. On the surface of patch A, residues were mutated to represent ST1, and on patch F to represent ST5 in all four Variants. Patch G was populated with surface residues of ST5 in Variants 1 and 2 and with surface residues for ST4 in Variants 3 and 4. Patch H was populated with surface residues of ST4 in Variants 1 and 2 and ST5 in Variants 3 and 4. Variants 1 and 4 were stabilized by the introduction of an “alpha-type” disulfide bond; i.e., amino acids 244 and 259 were replaced with cysteine residues. Variants 2 and 3 were stabilized by the introduction of a “beta-type” disulfide bond; i.e., amino acids 182 and 269 were replaced with cysteine residues. Variants 5 and 6 are based on Layout 1. Patch A was populated with surface residues of B. garinii OspA ST6 in Variant 5 and B. afzelii OspA ST2 in Variant 6. Patches B, C, D and E were populated with surface residues for B. garinii OspA ST3, B. afzelii OspA ST2 and B. garinii OspA ST6 residues, respectively. Variants 5 and 6 were stabilized by the introduction of a “beta-type” disulfide bond.

[0214] FIG. 2 Sequence alignment comparing multivalent OspA antigen Variants 1 to 6 to the sequence of the B. afzelii OspA C-terminal fragment scaffold (OspA ST2, aa 126-273, SEQ ID NO: 7, B. afzelii strain K78, AJY72832.1) showing the modified amino acid residues (BLASTP). The dots represent conserved amino acids that were unchanged. The relative location of amino acids in the three-dimensional structure is shown in the line labelled “Exposure”. Surface exposed amino acids “+”, partially exposed “o”, and buried “−”.The location of the residues making up patches A-H of the two layouts is provided in the lines labelled “Layout 1” and “Layout 2”. The location of the introduced cysteine residues are shown in the lines labelled “Type alpha” and “Type beta”. Also provided is the amino acid sequence of the ST1 OspA fragment, the three dimensional structure of which was used as a reference.

[0215] FIG. 3 (A) Linear schematic representation of the lipidated multivalent OspA fusion antigen Lip-V3-L2-V5 of the invention. The V3-L2-V5 polypeptide comprises a fusion of Variants 3 (V3; SEQ ID NO: 10) and 5 (V5; SEQ ID NO: 12) linked together with a 23 amino acid linker sequence (L2; SEQ ID NO: 32) derived from a loop region of protein P66 from B. garinii strain PBr. The multivalent OspA antigen also comprises an N-terminal lipidation signal sequence from the E. coli major outer membrane lipoprotein to facilitate lipidation of the N-terminus (indicated as the post-processed “Lip-CSS”) and an optional C-terminal histidine tag (6H) for purification purposes. Shown are patches A-H as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. Placement of the introduced stabilizing cysteine bonds in Variants 3 and 5 is also shown schematically. (B) Sequence alignment of Variants 3 and 5 with the ST2 structural scaffold sequence of the B. afzelii K78 OspA C-terminal domain (aa 126-273 from AJY72832.1, SEQ ID NO: 7) showing the modified amino-acid residues (BLASTP). The position of the patches and introduced cysteines are shown as described in FIG. 2. Additionally, the sequence of linker L2, derived from a loop region of P66 from B. garinii strain PBr, is included (SEQ ID NO: 18).

[0216] FIG. 4 Measurement of the antibody response to lipidated multivalent vaccine candidates by ELISA. The immunogenicity of individual multivalent proteins Vl-V6 when administered three times at two week intervals at a dose of 5 μg and formulated with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide was assessed. Immune sera collected from mice two weeks after the final immunization were serially diluted and tested in duplicate. The plates were coated with C-terminal fragments of the respective OspA ST and the immune response to the multivalent OspA candidates was compared to the response to FL-OspA of the respective serotypes. The results are presented as half-max geometric mean titres (GMT) with a 95% confidence interval and the dotted lines represent the detection limit.

[0217] FIG. 5 Borrelia surface binding studies to determine vaccine induced functional antibodies. The functionality of the antibodies generated by vaccination with the lipidated multivalent vaccine candidates V2, V3, V5 and V6, as outlined in FIG. 4 above, was tested in a Borrelia surface binding assay. The binding of vaccine induced antibodies to OspA of the corresponding serotype was compared to the antibodies generated by the respective FL-OspA. The surface binding assay was performed with B. burgdorferi OspA STI ZS7, B. afzelii OspA ST2 Pra10, B. bavariensis OspA ST4 Win, B. garinii OspA ST5 PHei, and OspA ST6 KL11. The results are presented as fluorescence intensity.

[0218] FIG. 6 Serotype-specific antibody responses to the lipidated multivalent fusion antigen Lip-V3-L2-V5 were compared with responses to full-length lipidated OspA proteins from serotypes 1-6 (FL-OspA ST1-6). Groups of 5-8 week old female C3H/HeNRj mice were immunized subcutaneously with V3-L2-V5 (SEQ ID NO: 26; 3 pg; 0.3 pg; 0.03 pg and 0.003 pg) or with individual full-length OspA proteins (SEQ ID NOs: 1-6; 1 μg) three times at two week intervals. All antigens were formulated with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide Immune sera were collected one week after the final immunization for quantification of anti-OspA IgG antibodies by ELISA. Truncated C-terminal OspA proteins of the respective serotypes were used as coating antigens (monomer serotypes 1-6; SEQ ID NOs: 33-38). Immunization with V3-L2-V5 elicited higher antibody titers than immunization with FL-OspA ST1 (A), ST4 (D), ST5 (E) or ST6 (F) and equivalent antibody titers when compared with FL-OspA ST2 (B) and FL-OspA ST3 (C) in the highest immunization dose of 3 μg. Antibody titers elicited by V3-L2-V5 decreased dose-dependently.

[0219] FIG. 7 Comparison of functional antibodies elicited by immunization with the lipidated multivalent fusion antigen Lip-V3-L2-V5 versus full-length lipidated OspA proteins of five different serotypes in mice. The ability of V3-L2-V5 to generate functional antibodies was assessed by a Borrelia surface binding assay. For these in vitro assays, sera from mice immunized three times with the highest dose of V3-L2-V5 (3 μg) were used for comparison with sera from mice immunized three times with 1 μg of the full-length OspA of the respective serotypes Immunization with V3-L2-V5 generated comparable surface binding to spirochetes expressing OspA of ST1 (A), ST2 (B), ST4 (C) and ST5 (D) as compared with the corresponding FL OspA proteins. The surface binding of V3-L2-V5 serum antibodies to spirochetes expressing OspA of ST6 (E) was higher than the binding of the FL-OspA ST6 (E) serum antibodies.

[0220] FIG. 8 The chemical structure of Pam3Cys, an example of a fatty acid substituted cysteine, such as would be found at the N-terminus of lipidated polypeptides of the current invention.

[0221] FIG. 9 Antibody titers generated to serotype 3 OspA protein following immunization with multivalent OspA vaccines (see also Table 5). Mice were immunized three times at two week intervals with full-length His-tagged ST3 OspA (1 μg/dose of Lip-OspA-ST3-His; SEQ ID NO: 3); with the Chimera combination vaccine (“Chimera combo”: 1μg/dose each of Lip-Chimeric OspA ST1/ST2-His, Lip-Chimeric OspA ST5/ST3-His and Lip-Chimeric OspA ST6/ST4-His); with the Heterodimer combination vaccine (“Heterodimer combo”; 1 μg/dose each of Lip-S1D1-S2D1, Lip-S4D1-S3D1 and Lip-S5D1-S6D1); with the BspHyb heterodimer combination vaccine (“BspHyb het combo”; 1 μg/dose each of Lip-S1D1-S2D1, Lip-S4D1-S3BspHybD1 and Lip-S5D1-S6D1) or with the BvaHyb heterodimer combination vaccine (“BvaHyb het combo”; 1 μg/dose each of Lip-SIDI-S2D1, Lip-S4DI-S3BvaHybD1 and Lip-S5D1-S6D1). All immunogens were formulated with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide. Sera were collected one week after the last dose. Titers of IgG antibodies to full-length ST3 protein were determined by ELISA.

[0222] FIG. 10 Functionality of antibodies from mice immunized with multivalent OspA vaccines as measured by cell surface binding. Mice were immunized as in FIG. 9 above (see also Table 5) and sera were collected and pooled at one week after the last dose. Serial dilutions of the sera were tested for in vitro binding to Borrelia via cell staining followed by flow cytometry. Fluorescence intensity values measured following staining with sera collected from control mice immunized with Al(OH).sub.3 adjuvant alone were subtracted to account for non-specific binding. Spirochetes used in the binding assay were B. garinii, OspA serotype 3, strain Fr.

EXAMPLES

[0223] Materials and Methods

[0224] Ethics statement: The animal experiments in the study were conducted in compliance with Austrian law (Tierversuchsgesetz 2012, BGB1. I Nr. 114/2012) and approved by ‘Magistratsabteilung 58’. Furthermore, in accordance with the 3R principle, the number of animals used in the study was curtailed.

[0225] Design of chimeric constructs The protein surface of OspA ST1 (crystal structure (PDB 1OSP) (Li et al., PNAS, 1997. 94(8):3584-9) was analyzed and the residues classified into surface accessible, partially accessible and buried (FIG. 2). Surface areas were defined in analogy to known epitopes to best represent potential binding sites (from ST1, FIG. 1). Homology models of the C-terminal domain (ST1-6, modified by disulfide-bond “beta”) were relaxed in short molecular mechanics simulations (Gromacs/OPLS-AA) to verify structural integrity (Open-source PyMol, http://sourceforge.net/projects/pymol/, DeLano, W.L., The PyMOL Molecular Graphics System, DeLano Scientific, San Carlos, Calif., USA. Available: http://www.pymol.org. 2002; Kiefer, F., et al., The SWISS-MODEL Repository and associated resources. Nucleic Acids Res, 2009. 37(Database issue): p. D387-92.; Hess, B., et al., GROMACS 4: Algorithms for Highly Efficient, Load-Balanced, and Scalable Molecular Simulation. J Chem Theory Comput, 2008. 4(3): p. 435-47; Kaminski, G.A., et al., Evaluation and Reparametrization of the OPLS-AA Force Field for Proteins via Comparison with Accurate Quantum Chemical Calculations on Peptides. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2001. 105(28): p. 6474-648743). All models showed high fold conservation was observed which is a prerequisite to be able to choose the ST2 C-terminal fragment of B. afzelii OspA ST2, consisting of amino acids 126-273 (SEQ ID NO: 7) as a structural scaffold for the surface shaping approach. The serotypes on the patches (potential antibody binding sites; i.e., epitopes) were assigned by replacing exposed residues belonging to the targeted patch to the respective serotype (e.g. FIG. 1B).

[0226] Many combinations of layouts, and patch attribution combinations are possible. Preferably the interference of near residues on an adjacent patch mismatching the actual assignment of a patch is low. Programmatically, a score was determined by calculating the residue distance (as defined by the C.sub.alpha-C.sub.alpha distance) of interfering residues. Penalty contributions for each non-ST2 residue in a patch were scaled with the distance of interfering residues (0.5 nm plus 0.3 nm switching region) and by their position in the three dimensional structure; i.e. buried, partially exposed or exposed, the amino acid residues were given a factor of 0, 0.5 and 1, respectively and summed up. This is repeated for each patch in a given layout to give a score for one combination. Scoring is repeated for each possible combination and used for a ranking of possible patch population to facilitate the choice. Finally, the surface exposed amino acid residues for a chosen combination patch layout and assignments were substituted represent the OspA serotypes of choice within the single patches of the candidate Variant.

[0227] Molecular Cloning: The OspA amino acid sequences used for designing the chimeric vaccines were derived from B. burgdorferi serotype 1 (aa 126-273, strain B31, NP_045688.1), B. afzelii serotype 2 (aa 126-273, strain K78, AJY72832.1), B. garinii serotype 3 (aa 126-274, strain PBr, YP_002476925.1), B. bavariensis serotype 4 (aa 126-273, strain PBi, YP_063283.1), B. garinii serotype 5 (aa 126-273, strain PHei, CAA56544.1) and B. garinii serotype 6 (aa 126-274, strain DK29, CAA45010). The sequence alignment of the multivalent Variants as compared to the C-terminal domain of B. afzelii OspA ST2 (structural scaffold) is shown, with identical amino acids depicted as dots and substituted amino acids indicated (FIG. 2). The nucleotide sequence of each of the hybrid constructs was codon optimized and synthesized (Eurofins Scientific and GeneArt Gene Synthesis, Thermo Fisher Scientific). The constructs were digested with HindlII and Xhol and cloned into the expression vector pET28b(+) (Merck Millipore, USA) with an inclusion of an N-terminal 23 amino acid signal sequence for lipidation (MKATKLVLGAVILGSTLLAGCSS; SEQ ID NO: 30) from E. coli major outer membrane lipoprotein and a C-terminal histidine tag (6×1-1). Two chimeric Variants, Variant 3 and Variant 5, were fused together with a 23 amino acid linker sequence (L2; ANNQAGQKSSGSTQATTPNLTFE; SEQ ID NO: 32) to form the multivalent OspA heterodimer denoted as V3-L2-V5. The linker sequence was derived from a loop region of P66 (a major Borrelia porin) from B. garinii strain PBr (EED29356.1). For the generation of the final multivalent fusion vaccine (V3-L2-V5), Variant 3 was inserted (immediately after the lipidation signal sequence) into the pET28b (+) vector using the HindIII and SpeI restriction sites, followed by the linker sequence using Spel and ScaI restriction sites and finally inserting Variant 5 using the ScaI and XhoI restriction sites.

[0228] Protein expression and purification: Protein expression and purification up to the step of phase separation with Triton X-114 was performed as described by Comstedt and coworkers (Comstedt et al., 2015, Vaccine, 33(44):5982-8). Briefly, induction of protein expression was performed at 25° C. with 0.1 mM IPTG. A protease Inhibitor Cocktail II (PIC II: 2 mL Bestatin+2 mL AEBSF+2 mL E-64) was added to the lysis buffer (50 mM Tris-HC1; 500 mM NaCl; 5 mM EDTA at pH 8.0) and cell lysis was carried out with a high pressure homogenizer (PANDA 2K). Triton X-114 was added to the crude lysate (at 0.06 times the volume of crude lysate) and the solution was incubated at 4° C. under gentle stirring overnight and then centrifuged at 7000xg for 1 hour at 4° C. The supernatant was incubated at 28° C. for 30 minutes. The lipid phase was recovered by centrifugation at 7000xg for 40 minutes at 28° C. The IIs-tagged chimeric proteins were purified by Immobilized Metal Ion Affinity Chromatography (IMAC). Briefly, the lipid phase was diluted 1:20 in lipid phase dilution buffer (50 mM Tris-HC1 (pH 8); 500 mM NaCl; 0.05% Tween 20; 10% Ethanol) and loaded onto a column with Ni.sup.2+-Sepharose beads (GE Healthcare; Ni Sepharose™ 6 Fast Flow) equilibrated with lipid phase dilution buffer. The bound His-tagged proteins were eluted with an imidazole elution buffer (50 mM Tris-HC1; 500 mM NaCl; 0.05% Tween-20; 100 mM Imidazole) with increasing imidazole concentrations (100 mM, 250 mM and 500 mM). The PyroGene™ Recombinant Factor-C Kit (Lonza) was used to determine the concentration of endotoxin in the purified lipidated chimeric proteins.

[0229] Immunization and challenge: The immunization and challenge studies were performed as described by Comstedt and coworkers (Comstedt et al., 2014, Plos One 9(11):e113294; Comstedt et al., 2015, Vaccine, 33(44):5982-8). The purified lipidated chimeric proteins were formulated with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide (Alhydrogel, Brenntag) as an adjuvant. Groups of 10 female C3H/HeNRj mice per antigen were immunized sub-cutaneously with 5 μg of individual vaccine candidates. 5 μg of full-length OspA protein was used as a positive control and the placebo group was injected with adjuvant alone. Three immunizations were performed at two week intervals and immune sera were collected at day 7 after the final immunization. Two weeks following the final immunization, mice were challenged with Borrelia by either subcutaneous injection or tick challenge. For challenge with B. burgdorferi (ST1) and B. garinii (ST5 and ST6), in vitro grown spirochetes expressing OspA (Comstedt et al., 2014, Plos One, supra; Comstedt et al., 2015, Vaccine, supra) were delivered subcutaneously at a dose of 5×10.sup.4 spirochetes in 100 μL per mouse. OspA expression was confirmed by flow cytometry and only cultures with at least 80% of the spirochetes expressing OspA on their surface were used for challenge.

[0230] Ticks infected with B. afzelii (strain IS1), B. burgdorferi (strains Pra1) and B. bavariensis (strain Marx1) were used to challenge mice as described elsewhere (Comstedt et al., 2014, Plos One, supra). For the IS1 and Marx1 strains, two ticks and for the Pra1 strain, three ticks were applied on each mouse. Mice with at least one (IS1 and Marx1) or two (Pra1) fully-fed tick(s) were included in the subsequent read outs. Mice were anesthetized with isoflurane prior to terminal bleeding and sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The urinary bladder and both ears were collected from each mouse. The infectious status of individual mice was determined by V1sE ELISA and qPCR (for selected experiments) as described below.

[0231] OspA ELISA: Immune sera derived from mice after the third immunization were analyzed for specific IgG titers. Indirect ELISA was performed using the truncated OspA protein of respective serotypes as the coating antigen. The ELISA was performed as previously described (Comstedt et al., 2014, Plos One, supra). Briefly, 96-well plates were coated with 0.05 pg of protein in 50 μL PBS per well overnight at 4° C. The plates were blocked with 100 pL per well with blocking buffer (PBS with 0.05% Tween-20 [PBST]) for one hour at room temperature. Serum samples were serially diluted and tested in duplicate by incubating for one hour at room temperature after addition to the prepared plates. An HRP-conjugated polyclonal rabbit anti-mouse IgG (DAKO) was used as secondary antibody, ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid)) was used as substrate and the reaction was stopped with SDS. Absorbance was read at 405 nm. Antibody titers are presented as half-max titers, which represents the reciprocal of the serum dilution corresponding to the mean absorbance between the highest and the lowest dilution.

[0232] Surface staining of Borrelia: Spirochetes were stained to determine OspA expression as described previously (Comstedt et al., 2014, Plos One, supra). Briefly, spirochetes were fixed by the addition of an equal volume of 4% paraformaldehyde. Heat-inactivated serum pools were serially diluted (1:5) in washing buffer in a separate dilution plate. Diluted sera were added to the fixed spirochetes and incubated for 45 minutes at RT. PE-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG (Beckman Coulter, USA) was used as secondary antibody and LDS 751 (Life Technologies, USA) was used to stain the DNA of the spirochetes. The stained spirochetes were analyzed with a flow cytometer (FC 500 Cytomics, Beckman Coulter) by gating for positive LDS 751 events.

[0233] Growth Inhibition of Borrelia: A growth inhibition assay was used as a functional assay for serum antibodies (Comstedt et al., Plos One, 2014, supra). The heat inactivated immune serum pools were serially diluted (1:5) and incubated with spirochetes (1.0E+03 to 1.0E+04/well) and 1% guinea pig complement in 96-well plates for 3-5 days at 35° C. with 5% CO.sub.2. Surviving spirochetes were stained with LDS 751 (Life Technologies). The amount of surviving spirochetes was determined by flow cytometry (FC 500 Cytomics, Beckman Coulter). The values are represented as growth inhibition titer which is defined as the reciprocal of the serum dilution with at least 50% reduction in growth.

[0234] V1sE ELISA: The ELISA with the invariable region 6 (IR6) of the variable major protein like sequence E protein (V1sE) was performed as described before (Comstedt et al., 2014, Plos One, supra and WO14/006226). Briefly, 96-well streptavidin pre-coated plates were coated with the 25 amino acid long biotinylated IR6 peptide (MKKDDQIAAAMVLRGMAKDGQFALK). Sera were diluted (1:2) and tested in duplicate, using HRP-conjugated polyclonal rabbit anti-mouse IgG (DAKO) as a secondary antibody. ABTS was added as a substrate and the reaction was continued for 30 minutes. Absorbance was read at 450 nm.

[0235] Quantitative PCR: Detection of spirochete DNA was done by PCR amplification of a part of the recA gene as described previously (Comstedt et al., Plos One 2014, supra and WO14/006226; forward primer: CATGCTCTTGATCCTGTTTA, reverse primer: CCCATTTCTCCATCTATCTC). DNA from bladders was isolated using the DNeasy Blood and Tissue Kit from Qiagen (Germany) according to manufacturer's instructions. The recA gene fragment from B. burgdorferi strain N40 was serially diluted and used as standard in each reaction.

[0236] Statistics: The infection status of the mice was based on V1sE ELISA and quantitative PCR as described above. All groups were compared with a placebo group for assessment of infection/protection and statistical significance was calculated with Fisher's exact test (two-tailed), *p<0.05, **p<0.01 and *** p<0.001, ns =not significant.

Example 1. Design of Chimeric Vaccines Representing Multiple OspA Serotypes on their Surface and Expressed as Single Proteins

[0237] The chimeric OspA Variants disclosed herein were designed with the aim of presenting multiple OspA serotypes on a single polypeptide antigen, thereby reducing the number of proteins required to achieve broad protection against the major pathogenic Borrelia species. The surface shaping approach presented in this study uses as a structural scaffold the truncated and disulfide-bridge stabilized C-terminal domain of OspA from B. afzelii OspA ST2 (aa 126-273; SEQ TD NO: 7). The surface-exposed region of this C-terminal domain was divided into eight overlapping areas referred to as Patch A-Patch H (FIG. 1A and B) based on known sites of binding of monoclonal antibodies to B. burgdorferi OspA (ST1). A patch as defined herein is an area on the molecule, whether continuous or discontinuous in the primary amino acid sequence, which can harbor a potential structural epitope; i.c. a site large enough to fulfill the requirements that an antibody can bind. Surface-exposed amino acid residues can then be replaced to represent the targeted surface within a patch.

[0238] In the given examples, patch A is based on the binding of the LA-2 monoclonal antibody (Ding et al., 2000, J Mol Biol, 302(5):1153-64); Patch B is based on the binding site of mAb 336 (Koide, S., et al., 2005, J Mol Biol, 350(2):290-9); Patch C is based on the binding region of mAb 105.5 (Koide et al., supra); Patch D represents portions of the binding site of mAb 4C10C2 (Legros et al., 2000, Protein Sci, 9(5):1002-10) and parts of the linear epitope (LE) (Schubach et al., 1991, Infect Immun, 59(6):1911-5); Patch F represents an extended version of Patch B and includes the 336 epitope and parts of the 105.5 epitope; Patch G represents parts of the binding sites of mAb 105.5, mAb 4C10C2 and a linear epitope (LE) identified from patient serum samples (Schubach, et al., supra); Patch E is based on the binding regions of mAb CIII78 (Sears et al., 1991, J. Immunol., 147(6):1995-2000) and the tick gut binding domain (TGBD) (Pal et al., 2000, J. Clin. Invest., 106(4):561-9); Patch H represents an extended version of patch E and includes a mouse T-cell epitope from OspA named B4 (Zhong et al. 1996, Eur. J. Immunol., 26(11): 2749-57). Patches A, B and C are defined as the analog surface areas which contain known binding sites of monoclonal antibodies to ST1 OspA. Furthermore, Patches D-H take advantage of less precisely-defined binding regions of mAbs and include additional epitopes (e.g., TGBD, LE and B4).

[0239] The surface exposed amino acid residues on the patches described above were replaced with residues of three out of the six major OspA serotypes (OspA ST1-ST6) in order to accommodate multiple serotypes on one protein molecule. Six chimeras, referred to as Variant 1-Variant 6, were constructed and centered on Patch A-Patch H (FIG. 1). The design of Variants 1-4 was centered on Patch A, F, G and H (Layout 2) and amino acid residues of OspA ST1, ST4 and ST5 were represented on the surface (FIG. 1B). Variants 1 and 4 were stabilized by introducing an a-type disulfide bond (i.e., disulfide bond between two introduced cysteine residues at amino acid positions corresponding to amino acids 244 and 259 of OspA serotype 2) whereas Variants 2 and 3 were stabilized by introducing a β-type disulfide bond (i.e., disulfide bond between two introduced cysteine residues at amino acid positions corresponding to amino acids 182 and 269 of OspA serotype 2) (Comstedt et al., 2014, PLoS One 9(11):e113294) in order to study the effect of different positioning of disulfide bonds on immunogenicity and efficacy of the multivalent chimeras. The difference in Variants 1-4 is represented with serotype interchanges on Patch G and H as indicated in FIG. 1B with the aim to study the difference in immunogenicity as well as efficacy of this set of chimeric candidates with respect to OspA ST4 and ST5. The design of Variants 5 and 6 is based on Patches A, B, C, D and E (i.e., Layout 1; FIG. 1A) and OspA ST2, ST3 and ST6 are represented on the surface (FIG. 1B). Variants 5 and 6 were stabilized by an introduced β-type disulfide bond. The difference in these two Variants is represented by a serotype switch on Patch A as illustrated in FIG. 1B, to determine the effect of this difference in immune response and protection generated against OspA ST2 and OspA ST6.

[0240] The design of the chimeric Variants with the surface shaping approach takes into account important protective epitopes described in the literature as defined by respective monoclonal antibodies (LA-2, CIII78, 336 and 105.5) and represents the amino acid residues of prevalent OspA serotypes on the surface. As an example, in Variants 1-4, Patch A is populated with residues from OspA ST1 (prevalent in the U.S.) and in Variants 5 and 6, with residues from OspA ST2 and ST6 (prevalent in Europe). Furthermore, assigning different serotypes to different patches in these two sets of multivalent chimeras also allows identification of potential immunogenic and protective epitopes with respect to serotypes other than OspA ST1. Overall, the use of a surface shaping approach in this study enabled the expression of multiple serotypes (as patches) on the surface of a single antigen, subsequently resulting in fewer number of antigens in the final vaccine formulation. FIG. 2 shows a sequence alignment of the multivalent OspA Variant 1-Variant 6 as compared to the conserved backbone of a B. afzelii K78 OspA C-terminal domain which defines the unmodified scaffold.

Example 2. Multivalent Vaccine Candidates Induce Significant Antibody Titers Against all Major OspA Serotypes

[0241] OspA based vaccines are thought to protect primarily via production of circulating antibodies that are ingested by the ticks during the blood meal. In the mid-gut of the tick, these antibodies bind and neutralize the spirochetes thereby preventing pathogen transmission and subsequent infection. In this regard the generation of high titers of antibodies following immunization is of primary importance. We therefore assessed the antibody response generated by the chimeric Variants against the six major clinically relevant OspA serotypes (ST1-ST6) with ELISA. All immunizations in this study were performed with the antigens formulated with 0.15% of aluminum hydroxide. Groups of 5-8 week-old female C3H/HeNRj mice were immunized three times at two week intervals with a dose of 5 μg of individual vaccine candidates (Variant 1-Variant 6).

[0242] Since the multivalent Variants represent only the C-terminal half of OspA, the OspA ELISA plates were coated with truncated and stabilized C-terminal monomers (ST1-ST6; SEQ ID Nos: 33-38) and the immune response was compared with the response to immunization with full-length OspA of the respective serotypes (FL-OspA ST1-ST6; SEQ ID Nos: 1-6, respectively).

[0243] As shown in FIG. 4, Variant 1 with the alpha-type disulfide bond induced a significantly lower antibody response as compared to Variants 2, 3 and 4 with respect to OspA ST1 ELISA titers; however, the immunogenicity was comparable with respect to other serotypes. Variant 4, also with an alpha-type disulfide bond, induced a comparable immune response to Variants 1, 2 and 3 with respect to all serotypes included on the patches. Variants 2 and 3 induced comparable antibody titers with respect to FL-OspA ST1, FL-OspA ST4 and FL-OspA ST5 (homologous serotypes represented on their surface) and cross-reactive antibodies comparable to FL-OspA ST6, respectively. However, the immune response was lower when compared to FL-OspA ST2 and ST3. Variants 5 and 6 induced comparable titers to FL-OspA ST2, FL-OspA ST3, and FL-OspA ST6 (serotypes presented on their surface), as well as cross reactive antibodies comparable to FL-OspA ST4. However, these candidates induced a lower immune response compared with FL-OspA ST1 and FL-OspA ST5, respectively.

[0244] The results demonstrated that the immune response of the multivalent Variants varied according to distribution of serotypes on different patches represented on the surface.

Example 3. Generation of Functional Antibodies by Multivalent OspA Vaccine Candidates

[0245] The multivalent Variants V2, V3, V5 and V6 were further evaluated for their ability to induce functional antibodies against the major clinically relevant OspA serotypes (ST1-ST6). The functional assessment was based on the ability of the antibodies to bind in vitro to Borrelia expressing OspA ST1-ST6 on their surface as well as by testing the ability of antibodies to inhibit the growth of live spirochetes in vitro. Heat inactivated pooled serum samples from mice immunized with each Variant were tested in five-fold serial dilutions for their ability to bind to spirochetes expressing OspA of the respective serotypes. Variants 1 and 4, stabilized with disulfide bond alpha, induced very low surface binding with respect to OspA ST1, ST2, ST4, ST5 and ST6 (data not shown). As shown in FIG. 5, Variant 2, with disulfide bond beta, generated equivalent binding with respect to FL-OspA ST1 but lower binding was observed when compared with FL-OspA ST2, FL-OspA ST4 and FL-OspA ST5. Variant 3, with disulfide bond beta, induced comparable surface binding when compared with FL-OspA ST1 and FL-OspA 5 but lower surface binding was observed when compared with FL-OspA ST2 and FL-OspA 4. Variants 2 and 3 both generated strong binding when compared with FL-OspA ST6 (which in general induces low binding). Variant 5 and Variant 6, with disulfide bond beta, demonstrated surface binding similar to FL-OspA ST2 and Variant 5 induced significantly higher surface binding than FL-OspA ST6. Variants 5 and 6 induced comparable binding as FL-OspA ST4 and lower binding than FL-OspA ST5. These Variants did not induce any surface binding to B. burgdorferi s.s. OspA ST1. Additionally, none of the Variants induced surface binding to B. garinii OspA ST3.

[0246] Furthermore, the growth inhibition assay was performed with Borrelia expressing OspA of respective serotypes on the surface and the amount of bactericidal antibodies needed to inhibit growth of spirochetes in presence of 1% guinea pig complement was evaluated (Table 1).

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 1 Functional antibodies generated by multivalent OspA vaccine candidates as determined in growth inhibition assays. Immune sera ST1 ST2 ST3 ST4 ST5 ST6 FL OspA 1250 6250 6250 250 31250 <50 Variant 1 (α) <50 <50 n.d. <50 <50 50 Variant 2 (β) 1250 <50 <50 <50 1250 50 Variant 3 (β) 1250 <50 <50 <50 1250 50 Variant 4 (α) <50 <50 n.d. <50 50 50 Variant 5 (β) <50 1250 250 250 250 1250 Variant 6 (β) <50 1250 50 250 50 50 Growth inhibition assay was performed with B. burgdorferi ZS7 (ST1), B. afzelii Pra10 (ST2), B. garinii PFr (ST3), B. bavariensis PFin (ST4) and B. garinii PHei (ST5) and KL11 (ST6) strains. The growth inhibition (GI) titer is defined as the reciprocal of the lowest dilution showing ≥50% reduction in bacterial growth. n.d. = not done.

[0247] As shown in Table 1, Variant 1 and Variant 4 failed to inhibit the growth of any of the Borrelia strains tested. Variant 2 and Variant 3 generated comparable growth inhibition (GI) titers compared to FL-OspA ST1 while low GI titers were generated by both the Variants as compared to FL-OspA ST2 and FL-OspA ST5. None of Variants 1 to 4 generated a GI titer against B. bavariensis OspA ST4. Variant 5 and Variant 6 induced equivalent GI titers when compared to FL-OspA ST4 and lower GI titers when compared to FL-OspA ST2 and FL-OspA ST5. Variant 5 induced higher GT titers when compared to all the other Variants.

Example 4. Multivalent OspA Antigens Provided Significant Protection Against Major Borrelia Species and OspA Serotypes Pathogenic to Humans

[0248] Based on the serology data presented above, four multivalent OspA antigens (Variants 2, 3, 5 and 6) were selected for evaluation of protection against Borrelia strains expressing five major OspA serotypes (ST1, ST2, ST4, ST5 and ST6). Variant 1 and Variant 4 were not pursued further since they generated very low levels of functional antibodies against the majority of OspA serotypes used in the study and they also resulted in sub-optimal protein yields. For the analysis of protection, mice were immunized with individual Variants V2, V3, V5 and V6 and were challenged with I. ricinus ticks infected with B. burgdorferi OspA ST1, B. afzelii OspA ST2 or B. bavariensis OspA ST4 or subcutaneously with 5×10.sup.4 in vitro grown B. burgdorferi OspA ST1 or B. garinii ST5. In the case of tick challenge, the ticks were monitored until detachment and only mice with at least one tick with respect to ST2 or at least two ticks with respect to ST1 and ST4 feeding for >48 hours were included in the final infection readout.

[0249] As shown in Table 2, Variant 2 and Variant 3 demonstrated significant protection against all four OspA serotypes tested. Variant 5 and Variant 6 exhibited partial, non-significant, protection against a challenge with ticks harboring B. burgdorferi (OspA ST1). However, both Variants 5 and 6 provided significant protection against challenges with ticks infected with B. afzelii (OspA ST2) and B. bavariensis (OspA ST4).

[0250] For needle challenge, mice were injected subcutaneously two weeks after the final immunization with in vitro grown ZS7 (B. burgdorferi OspA ST1) or PHei (B. garinii OspA ST5) to determine the efficacy of multivalent variants. Variant 2 and Variant 3 provided 100% protection against challenge with ZS7 (OspA ST1) (Table 2). However, V5 and V6 conferred only partial, non-significant, protection against a challenge with ZS7 (OspA ST1). With respect to protection against challenge with PHei (OspA ST5), Variant 2 and Variant 3 induced highly significant protection. Conversely, Variant 5 and Variant 6 generated partial, non-significant protection, against challenge with PHei (OspA ST5).

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 2 Protective efficacy of lipidated multivalent OspA Variants compared with full-length lipidated OspA proteins in challenge experiments. Subcutaneous challenge Tick challenge B. garinii B. burgdorferi B. afzelii B. bavariensis B. burgdorferi (ST5) (two separate (ST1) (ST2) (ST4) (ST1) experiments) Immunogen Serotypes Dose Infected/ Infected/ Infected/ Infected/ Infected/ Infected/ Total Total Total Total Total Total FL-OspA 1, 2, 4 or 5 5 μg 3/9*.sup. 1/7*** 0/6*** 0/10*** 0/10*** 0/10*** Variant 2 1, 4 & 5 5 μg .sup. 1/7** 3/8* 0/4** 0/10*** 3/10.sup.ns 4/10** Variant 3 1, 4 & 5 5 μg .sup. 0/8*** 4/10* 1/9*** 0/10*** 0/10*** 1/10*** Variant 5 2, 3 & 6 5 μg 5/8.sup.ns 1/9*** 0/7*** 9/10.sup.ns .sup. 3/5.sup.ns 8/10.sup.ns .sup. Variant 6 2, 3 & 6 5 μg 6/9.sup.ns 1/9*** 0/7*** 7/10.sup.ns .sup. 7/10.sup.ns 9/10.sup.ns .sup. Placebo — — 12/14 .sup. 13/14 9/10 10/10 8/10 10/10 For efficacy analysis three immunizations were administered at two week intervals with polypeptides (5 μg) formulated with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide or with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide alone (placebo). Fifteen days after the third immunization, the mice were challenged with laboratory reared ticks infected with B. burgdorferi (ST1; strain Pra1), B. afzelii (ST2; strain IS1) or B. bavariensis (ST4; strain Marx1) or by subcutaneous injection, with 5 × 10.sup.4 in vitro grown spirochetes B. burgdorferi (ST1, strain ZS7), B. garinii (ST5; strain PHei). For the tick challenge experiments, only mice with at least one tick (ST2) or two ticks (ST1 and ST4) feeding for >48 hours were included in the readout. Statistical significance was calculated with Fisher's exact test (two-tailed), *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001, .sup.nsnot significant.

Example 5. Multivalent Fusion Vaccine Generates Comparable Immune Response as Well as Functional Antibodies Against Major Borrelia Species and OspA Serotypes Pathogenic to Humans

[0251] The multivalent OspA fragments V2, V3, V5 and V6 demonstrated high levels of protection against clinically relevant Borrelia species expressing five different OspA serotypes (ST1, ST2, ST4, ST5 and ST6) (Example 4, Table 2). To produce a single antigen that may provide protection against multiple major OspA serotypes, a combination of the V3+V5 multivalent monomers was selected for further analysis. Variant 3 and Variant 5 were fused together with a 23 amino acid linker sequence derived from a loop region of P66 (Bunikis J. et al. 1998, J. Bact. 180(7):1618-1623 and Ornstein K. et al. 2002, Clin. Diag. Lab. Imm. 9(6):1382-1384) from B. garinii strain PBr, and a lipidation signal peptide was added at the N-terminal part. The resulting construct was expressed as single lipidated fusion polypeptide referred to as V3-L2-V5 (also referred to as “Lip-V3-L2-V5”). FIG. 3 shows a linear schematic representation of V3-L2-V5 (FIG. 3A) and a sequence alignment of the Variants 3 and 5 (FIG. 3B) with the conserved backbone of a B. afzelii C-terminal domain (aa 126-273, SEQ ID NO: 7).

[0252] Immunogenicity of the fusion protein was assessed and compared with that of the respective full-length OspA proteins. Mice were immunized with four doses of V3-L2-V5 vaccine (3, 0.3, 0.03 and 0.003 μg/mouse) or the respective FL-OspA (ST1-ST6; 1 μg/mouse) three times at two week intervals (all with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide). Immune sera were collected one week after the final immunization for analysis of OspA IgG antibodies by ELISA as well as surface binding and growth inhibition assays. As shown in FIG. 6, the V3-L2-V5 vaccine generated higher antibody titers than each of the individual OspA proteins FL-OspA ST1, ST4, ST5 and ST6 and generated similar titers with respect to the individual OspA proteins FL-OspA ST2 and ST3.

[0253] The functionality of the antibodies stimulated by vaccination with V3-L2-V5 was assessed by surface binding to Borrelia in vitro as well as growth inhibition of Borrelia. For these in vitro assays, pooled sera from mice immunized with a dose of 3 pg V3-L2-V5 were used. As shown in FIG. 7, immunization with V3-L2-V5 generated surface binding to spirochetes expressing OspA ST1, ST2, ST4 and ST5 that was comparable with antibodies generated in response to the FL-OspA proteins (1 μg/mouse) of the respective serotype. The surface binding of V3-L2-V5 sera to spirochetes expressing OspA ST6 on the surface was higher when compared to the FL-OspA-ST6 immunized mice.

[0254] As shown in Table 3, growth inhibition titers generated by immunization with V3-L2-V5 were higher than those from the respective FL-OspA proteins for spirochetes expressing OspA ST1, ST5 and ST6, comparable with respect to spirochetes expressing OspA ST2 and lower than with respect to OspA ST4.

TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 3 Functional antibodies generated by chimeric OspA vaccine candidates as determined by Borrelia growth inhibition. Immune sera ST1 ST2 ST3 ST4 ST5 ST6 FL-OspA 250 6250 6250 31250 250 <50 V3-L2-V5 1250 1250 <50 6250 1250 250 Growth inhibition was analyzed with B. burgdorferi (ST1; strain ZS7), B. afzelii (ST2; strain Pra10), B. garinii (ST3; strain PFr), B. bavariensis (ST4; strain PFin), B. garinii (ST5; strain PHei) and KL11 (ST6) strains. The growth inhibition (GI) titer is defined as the reciprocal of the lowest dilution with ≥50% reduction in bacterial growth.

Example 6. Fusion V3-L2-V5 Vaccine Protects Against Two Major Human Pathogenic Borrelia Species of Global Importance

[0255] The protective efficacy of the V3-L2-V5 vaccine was tested against the two most clinically relevant Borrelia species; i.e., B. burgdorferi (OspA ST1) and B. afzelii (OspA ST2). For this study, V3-L2-V5 was compared with the respective FL-OspA proteins in a needle challenge with in vitro grown B. burgdorferi (OspA ST1) and ticks infected with B. afzelii (OspA ST2). As shown in Table 4, the V3-L2-V5 conferred highly significant protection against B. burgdorferi (OspA ST1) at the three highest immunization doses.

TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 4 Efficacy of the V3-L2-V5 multivalent fusion vaccine in comparison with full-length OspA proteins against B. burgdorferi OspA ST1 needle challenge and B. afzelii OspA ST2 tick challenge. Needle Challenge Tick Challenge B. burgdorferi (ST1) B. afzelii (ST2) Dose/mouse Infected/Total Infected/Total Serotypes (with 0.15% Alum) number of mice number of mice FL-OspA ST1 1 μg 6/10.sup.ns — FL-OspA ST2 1 μg — 0/18*** V3-L2-V5 ST1-6 3 μg 0/10*** 0/9*** 0.3 μg 0/10*** 0/9*** 0.03 μg 0/10*** 0/9*** 0.003 μg 2/10* 6/9.sup.ns Placebo — — 8/10 15/16 Mice were challenged with ticks infected with B. afzelii (ST2; strain IS1) or were subcutaneously injected with 5 × 10.sup.4 in vitro grown B. burgdorferi (ST1; strain ZS7). The infection status was assessed after four weeks with VlsE ELISA. For B. afzelii tick challenge experiments, only mice with at least one tick feeding for >48 hours were included in the readout. Statistical significance was calculated with Fisher's exact test (two-tailed), *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001, .sup.nsnot significant.

[0256] Notably, as shown in Table 4, V3-L2-V5 demonstrated significant protection even at the lowest dose of 3 ng demonstrating a high protective efficacy against a B. burgdorferi (OspA ST1) challenge. For challenge with B. afzelii (OspA ST2) infected ticks, the same batch of ticks was used and therefore the results of two different experiments were combined. Vaccination with V3-L2-V5 provided 100% protection against challenge with B. afzelii (OspA ST2) infected ticks and the protection generated was comparable to that of FL-OspA2. The results indicate 100% protection of the fusion protein V3-L2-V5 vaccine in a lower antigen dose of 0.03 μg demonstrating high efficacy of the candidate, which was higher when compared to FL-OspA ST1 against a B. burgdorferi needle challenge and comparable to FL OspA ST2 against a B. afzelii tick challenge.

Example 7. Immunogenicity of Hybrid Serotype 3 C-Terminal OspA Domains in the Context of Heterodimers in a Combination Vaccine

[0257] Immunization of mice

[0258] Female C3H/HeN mice were used for all studies. Prior to immunizations, groups of ten mice were bled via the facial vein and pre-immune sera were prepared and pooled. Three s.c. immunizations of 100 μL each were administered at two week intervals. Mice were immunized with 1 μg of the control full-length serotype 3 OspA protein or with 1 μg each of the respective proteins in the combination vaccines. The contents of each immunogen are detailed in Table 5 below. All vaccines were formulated with aluminium hydroxide (Al(OH).sub.3) at a final concentration of 0.15%. One week after the third immunization, blood was collected from the facial vein and immune sera prepared. In each experiment, one group immunized with PBS formulated with Al(OH).sub.3 was included as a negative control (placebo group). All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with Austrian law (BGB1 Nr. 501/1989) and approved by “Magistratsabteilung 58”.

[0259] OspA ELISA

[0260] ELISA plates (Maxisorp, Nunc, Denmark) were coated with 50 ng (1 μg/mL) protein diluted in coating buffer (PBS) per well and incubated at 4° C. for 16 to 72 hours. The coating antigen was C-terminally His-tagged full-length lipidated OspA ST3 (SEQ ID NO: 3). The coating buffer was discarded and 100 μL blocking buffer (1% BSA, 0.5% Tween-20, PBS) was added and incubated at ambient temperature for 1-2 hours. Plates were washed three times with 300 μL (overflow) PBST (0.1% Tween-20, PBS). Five-fold dilutions of the sera were prepared in blocking buffer and 50 .sub.NI, were added to each well and incubated for 1 hour at ambient temperature. Plates were washed three times with 300 μL (overflow) PBST. The secondary antibody (horseradish peroxidase [HRP]-conjugated rabbit anti-mouse IgG, DAKO, Denmark) was diluted 1:2000 in blocking buffer and 50 μL was added to each well and incubated for 1 hour at ambient temperature. Plates were washed three times with 300 μL (overflow) PBST. ABTS (2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), Sigma-Aldrich, USA) was used as substrate for HRP, 50 μL of ABTS was added to each well and incubated for 15 minutes in the dark at ambient temperature. The reaction was stopped by the addition of 50 L 1% SDS and the absorbance was read at 405 nm. A plate was regarded as valid when the absorbance of the blank was below 0.1. A sample was valid when the lowest dilution had an absorbance above 1.0 and the highest dilution was below 0.1. When these criteria were met, the half-max titer was determined. The half-max titer is the reciprocal of the dilution that corresponds to the mean absorbance between the highest and lowest dilutions.

[0261] Flow Cytometry

[0262] Spirochetes (1×10.sup.6) were mixed with an equal volume of 4% paraformaldehyde and incubated for 2 hours at room temperature in a 96-well plate (Nunclon 96U, Nunc). The plate was centrifuged for 5 minutes at 2,000 g and the supernatant was discarded. Cells were washed with 150 μL HBSS with 2% BSA (HBSS-B), centrifuged as above, and the supernatant was discarded. Mouse sera were heat inactivated by incubation at 56° C. for 35 minutes. Heat-inactivated sera were diluted in HBSS-B and sterile filtered by centrifuging at 4,000 g for 3 minutes using Costar spin-X centrifuge tube filters (0.22 μm, Corning, USA). Spirochetes were dissolved in 100 μL serum and incubated for 45 minutes at room temperature. The plate was centrifuged for 15 minutes at 2,000 g and the supernatant was discarded. The cells were washed once with 150 μL HBSS-B and then resuspended in 100 μL HBSS-B. One microliter secondary antibody (PE-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG, Beckman Coulter, USA) was added to the cells and incubated at room temperature for 45 minutes in the dark. Spirochetes were washed once with 150 μL IIBSS-B and then resuspended in 200 μL IIBSS containing 2.5 μM SYTO-17 DNA dye and incubated for 10 minutes at room temperature in the dark. The stained spirochetes were pelleted by centrifuging for 5 minutes at 2,000 g and subsequently resuspended in 200 μL HBSS. Labelled spirochetes were measured with an FC500 (Beckman Coulter) flow cytometer, gated for SYTO-17 positive events.

[0263] Results

[0264] Three different OspA heterodimer formulations (“het combo” and “BvaIIyb het combo” and “BspIIyb het combo”) as well as an combination of full-length OspA chimeras (“chimera combo”) were tested for immunogenicity in mice. Full-length serotype 3 OspA served as a positive control. Hyperimmunc scra were analysed by ELISA for reactivity against full-length serotype 3 OspA (coating antigen) as well as for surface binding to Borrelia spirochetes expressing OspA serotype 3. As shown in FIG. 9, the ELISA results indicated that all vaccine combinations stimulated antibody responses to serotype 3 OspA.

[0265] As shown in FIG. 10, binding of antibodies from hyperimmune mouse sera directly to Borrelia spirochetes was observed in the case of Borrelia garinii, strain Fr, expressing serotype 3 OspA, indicating that the antibodies generated are functionally active and can bind native OspA in situ. The fluorescence intensity was linear over a large range of serum dilutions. The fluorescence intensity observed in response to the improved heterodimer combination vaccine to spirochetes was comparable to those observed in response to the heterodimer combination vaccine and the chimera combination vaccine. Again, notably, with regard to binding to serotype 3 OspA Borrelia spirochetes, the antibodies generated by the BvaHyb het combo and the BspHyb het combo, despite their relatively low sequence identity, were comparably functional.

TABLE-US-00010 TABLE 5 Combination vaccine immunization groups. All immunogens were formulated with 0.15% aluminium hydroxide. Dose at 2-week Immunogen intervals Full-length lipidated serotype 3 OspA 3 × 1.0 μg Lip-OspA3-His (SEQ ID NO: 3) Chimera combination vaccine 3 × 3 μg (Chimera combo) (1.0 μg each) Lip-Chimeric OspA ST1/ST2-His (Seq ID No: 69) Lip-Chimeric OspA ST5/ST3-His (Seq TD No: 70) Lip-Chimeric OspA ST6/ST4-His (Seq ID No: 71) Heterodimer combination vaccine 3 × 3 μg (Het combo) (1.0 μg each) Lip-S1D1-S2D1 (Seq ID No: 50) Lip-S4D1-S3D1 (Seq ID No: 52) Lip-S5D1-S6D1 (Seq ID No: 54) BvaHyb heterodimer combination 3 × 3 μg vaccine (1.0 μg each) (BvaHyb het combo) Lip-S1D1-S2D1 (Seq ID No: 50) Lip-S4D1-S3hybD1-Bva (Seq ID No: 48) Lip-S5D1-S6D1 (Seq ID No: 54) BspHyb heterodimer combination 3 × 3 μg vaccine (1.0 μg each) (BspHyb combo) Lip-S1D1-S2D1 (Seq ID No: 50) Lip-S4Dl-S3hybD1-Bsp (Seq ID No: 72) Lip-S5D1-S6D1 (Seq ID No: 54)

[0266] Conclusions

[0267] The herein described analysis of the multivalent OspA fragment Variants demonstrated that a reduction of the number of proteins in the final vaccine formulation could be achieved without compromising on broad protection against the most clinically relevant strains of pathogenic Borrelia species and OspA serotypes. With a single vaccine formulation, the cost and complexity of the OspA vaccine production can be reduced significantly, as long as the production yield is maintained.

[0268] Variant 1 and Variant 4, with a-type disulfide bonds were difficult to produce, having low levels of protein expression and yield. Furthermore, it was observed that these Variants generated functional antibodies only at levels much lower than those observed with Variant 2 and Variant 3, which are stabilized with the β-type disulfide bond. Although none of the Variants showed growth inhibition against B. bavariensis OspA ST4, the titers of Variant 2 and Variant 3 were significantly higher with respect to B. burgdorferi OspA ST1 and B. garinii OspA ST5. These results underscore the importance of the position of the disulfide bond on expression, yield and immunogenicity of the chimeric candidates and that preservation of proper protein folding in physiological temperatures is important.

[0269] Based on these results, Variant 2 and Variant 3 were selected further for studying the efficacy against challenge with major human pathogenic Borrelia species and serotypes. In Variant 2 and Variant 3, OspA ST5 and OspA ST4 were interchanged between patch G and H to study the effect on immunogenicity as well as protection generated against these serotypes. However, no significant difference in either immunogenicity or protection with respect to tick challenge with B. bavariensis OspA ST4 or needle challenge with B. garinii OspA ST5 was observed between these two Variants.

[0270] Variant 5 and Variant 6 stabilized with the n-type disulfide bond were designed with a serotype switch on patch A (i.e. ST6 on Variant 5 and ST2 on Variant 6) to study the effect on immunogenicity as well as protection generated against these two serotypes. With respect to immunogenicity, both variants generated similar immune responses to FL-OspA ST2 but the immune response to Variant 5 was higher as compared to Variant 6 against FL OspA ST6. In addition, Variant 5 and Variant 6 also generated comparable surface binding and growth inhibition titer against B. afzelii OspA ST2.

[0271] Variant 2 and Variant 3 generated significantly lower antibody titers and functional antibodies against B. afzelii OspA ST2 as compared with Variant 5 and Variant 6, but provided significant protection against challenge with B. afzelii OspA ST2 infected ticks. These data suggest that, even if the immune response generated was lower, significant cross-protection may be conferred. Additionally, comparing Variant 2 and Variant 3 with respect to OspA ST2, the functional antibodies and protection generated by Variant 3 was slightly better than that of Variant 2. This also suggests an effect of serotype interchange between these Variants, although OspA ST2 was not the serotype in question. Variant 2 and Variant 3 generated antibody titers to the level of Variant 5 and Variant 6 with respect to B. garinii OspA ST6. Therefore,

[0272] Variant 2 and Variant 3 were cross-reactive with B. garinii OspA ST6 despite not having ST6 serotype specific amino acid residues on their surfaces. Furthermore, Variant 5 and Variant 6, when compared with Variant 2 and Variant 3, generated significantly lower antibody titers and functional antibodies with respect to B. burgdorferi s.s. OspA ST1 and B. garinii OspA ST5. Similarly, Variant 5 and Variant 6 did not demonstrate significant protection against a needle challenge with OspA ST1 and ST5 or tick challenge against OspA ST1. Since Variant 5 and Variant 6 do not include OspA ST1 or ST5 serotype specific residues on their surface, very low cross-reaction and partial non-significant protection was observed against these serotypes. Conversely, Variant 5 and Variant 6 despite not presenting B. bavariensis OspA ST4 residues on the surface generated similar antibody titers and higher functional antibodies as compared with Variant 2 and Variant 3. Variant 5 and Variant 6 also demonstrated highly significant protection against challenge with B. bavariensis OspA ST4 infected ticks, which suggest that these Variants are highly cross-reactive and protective against B. bavariensis OspA ST4. With respect to B. garinii OspA ST3, Variant 2 and Variant 3 demonstrated a lower immune response as compared with Variant 5 and Variant 6. Probably because Variant 2 and 3 did not represent OspA ST3 amino acid residues on any of their patches, very low cross-reacting antibodies were generated.

[0273] Variant 3 and Variant 5 as individual candidates were observed to have slightly higher immunogenicity with respect to OspA ST2 and OspA ST6 than Variant 2 or Variant 6. Therefore, the V3 and V5 OspA fragment Variants were linked together with a short and flexible sequence (23 amino acids) to produce a single lipidated fusion protein named V3-L2-V5. The linker sequence used in V3-L2-V5 is a short 23 amino acid long sequence (SEQ ID NO: 32), which is derived from P66 protein of B. garinii strain PBr. The loop sequence is reported to be immunogenic in humans (Bunikis J. et al. 1998, supra and Ornstein K. et al. 2002, supra). OspA based vaccines are protective through circulating antibodies that neutralize the spirochetes in the mid-gut of the tick. Therefore, antibodies recognizing the P66 linker could potentially target spirochetes which may not have been neutralized by OspA antibodies in the tissue of the host to further enhance the efficacy of the fusion protein vaccine.

[0274] The multivalent lipidated fusion antigen V3-L2-V5 generated higher antibody titers than the FL-OspA proteins of OspA ST1, ST4, ST5 and ST6 and comparable antibody titers to FL-OspA ST2 and ST3. These results demonstrate that the single multivalent lipidated V3-L2-V5 antigen has the potential to generate protective antibodies against all major clinically-relevant OspA serotypes. This data is further substantiated by the functional assays (surface staining and growth inhibition) where the fusion vaccine generated was able to induce high titers of functional antibodies that could bind and inhibit the growth of live spirochetes in vitro. The V3-L2-V5 vaccine demonstrated 100% protection against needle challenge with in vitro grown B. burgdorferi s.s. OspA ST1 and tick challenge with B. afzelii OspA ST2 in the first three immunization doses investigated. Intriguingly, V3-L2-V5 was highly potent since protection was observed even with a dose of 3 ng against a challenge with in vitro grown B. burgdorferi s.s. OspA ST1 and a dose of 30 ng against a challenge with B. afzelii OspA ST2 infected ticks. The efficacy of the new vaccine was higher than that of FL-OspA ST1 protein and comparable to the FL-OspA ST2 in the respective challenge models. The results presented herein show a high pre-clinical efficacy and proof-of-principle of a new multivalent Lyme borreliosis vaccine with a potential to achieve broad protection with a single protein, with the potential to simplify the process of OspA vaccine production and making it more cost-effective.

TABLE-US-00011 SEQUENCES Lip-FL-OspA1 full-length OspA from Borrelia burgdorferi B31 with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 1 LipCSSFKQNVSSLDEKNSVSVDLPGEMKVLVSKEKNKDGKYDLIATVDKLELKGTSDKNNGSGVLEGVK ADKSKVKLTISDDLGQTTLEVFKEDGKTLVSKKVTSKDKSSTEEKFNEKGEVSEKIITRADGTRLEYTGI KSDGSGKAKEVLKGYVLEGTLTAEKTTLVVKEGTVTLSKNISKSGEVSVELNDTDSSAATKKTAAWNSGT STLTITVNSKKTKDLVFTKENTITVQQYDSNGTKLEGSAVEITKLDEIKNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-FL-OspA2 full-length OspA from Borrelia afzelii K78 with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 2 LipCSSFKQNVSSLDEKNSASVDLPGEMKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLKATVDKIELKGTSDKDNGSGVLEGTK DDKSKAKLTIADDLSKTTFELFKEDGKTLVSRKVSSKDKTSTDEMFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEM KSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKEGTVTLSKEIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKT STLTISVNSKKTTQLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGTAVEIKTLDELKNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-FL-OspA3 full-length OspAfrom Borrelia garinii PBr with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 3 LipCSSFKQNVSSLDEKNSVSVDLPGGMKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLMATVEKLELKGTSDKSNGSGVLEGEK ADKSKAKLTISQDLNQTTFEIFKEDGKTLVSRKVNSKDKSSTEEKFNDKGKLSEKVVTRANGTRLEYTEI KNDGSGKAKEVLKGFALEGTLTDGGETKLTVTEGTVTLSKNISKSGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSD TSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDLAELKAALKLEHHHHHH Lip-FL-OspA4 full-length OspAfrom Borrelia bavariensis PBi with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 4 LipCSSFKQNVSSLDEKNSVSVDLPGEMKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLMATVDKLELKGTSDKSNGSGTLEGEK SDKSKAKLTISEDLSKTTFEIFKEDGKTLVSKKVNSKDKSSIEEKFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEI KSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTLAADKTTLKVTEGTVVLSKHIPNSGEITVELNDSNSTQATKKTGKWDSNT STLTISVNSKKTKNIVFTKEDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGNAVEIKTLDELKNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-FL-OspA5 full-length OspA from Borrelia garinii PHei with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 5 LipCSSFKQNVSSLDEKNSVSVDLPGGMKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLMATVEKLELKGTSDKNNGSGTLEGEK TDKSKVKLTIAEDLSKTTFEIFKEDGKTLVSKKVTLKDKSSTEEKFNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDI KSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTEGTVTLSKNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSGNKKSGTWDSGT STLTISKNRTKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGKAVEITTLKELKNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-FL-OspA6 full-length OspAfrom Borrelia garinii DK29 with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 6 LipCSSFKQNVSSLDEKNSVSVDLPGGMTVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLEATVDKLELKGTSDKNNGSGTLEGEK TDKSKVKSTIADDLSQTKFEIFKEDGKTLVSKKVTLKDKSSTEEKFNGKGETSEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDI KSDGSGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTEGTVVLSKNILKSGEITAALDDSDTTRATKKTGKWDSK TSTLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQRYDSAGTNLEGKAVEITTLKELKNALKLEHHHHHH Conserved amino acid “scaffold” sequence of B. afzelii OspA ST2 (K78) SEQ ID NO: 7 FNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKEGTVTLSKEIAKSG EVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSKKTTQLVFTQKDTITVKQYDSAGTNLEGTAVEIKTL DELKNALK Variant 1 (ST1, 4, 5) with alpha-type bond SEQ ID NO: 8 FNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTVAADKVTLKVTEGTVTLSKHIPNSG EITVELDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSNTSTLTITVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTICVQNYDSNGTNLEGKCVEITTL KELKNALK Variant 2 (ST1, 4, 5) with beta-type bond SEQ ID NO: 9 FNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTVAADKVTLKVTCGTVTLSKHIPNSG EITVELDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSNTSTLTITVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGKAVEITTL KELCNALK Variant 3 (ST1, 4, 5) with p-type bond SEQ ID NO: 10 FNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTCGTVTLSKNISKS GEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGKAVEITT LKELCNALK Variant 4 (ST1, 4, 5) with beta-type bond SEQ ID NO: 11 FNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTEGTVTLSKNISKS GEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTICVQNYDSNGTNLEGKCVEITT LKELKNALK Variant 5 (ST2, 3, 6) with beta-type bond SEQ ID NO: 12 FNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSKEIAKSG EVTVALNDTNTTRATKKTGKWDSKTSTLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSPAEIKDL AELCAALK Variant 6 (ST2, 3, 6) with beta-type bond SEQ ID NO: 13 FNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSKEIAKSG EVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSPAEIKDL AELCAALK Lip-Variant 1 (ST1, 4, 5) with alpha-type bond, C-terminal His-tag (HHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 14 LipCSSFNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTVAADKVTLKVTEGTVTLSK HIPNSGEITVELDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSNTSTLTITVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTICVQNYDSNGTNLEGKC VEITTLKELKNALKHHHHHH Lip-Variant 2 (ST1, 4, 5) with beta-type bond, C-terminal His-tag (HHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 15 LipCSSFNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTVAADKVTLKVTCGTVTLSK HIPNSGEITVELDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSNTSTLTITVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGKA VEITTLKELCNALKHHHHHH Lip-Variant 3 (ST1, 4, 5) with beta-type bond, C-terminal His-tag (HHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 16 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTCGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGK AVEITTLKELCNALKHHHHHH Lip-Variant 4 (ST1, 4, 5) with alpha-type bond, C-terminal His-tag (HHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 17 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTEGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTICVQNYDSNGTNLEGK CVEITTLKELKNALKHHHHHH Lip-Variant 5 (ST2, 3, 6) with beta-type bond, C-terminal His-tag (HHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 18 LipCSSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSK EIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTRATKKTGKWDSKTSTLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSP AEIKDLAELCAALKHHHHHH Lip-Variant 6 (ST2, 3, 6) with beta-type bond, C-terminal His-tag (HHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 19 LipCSSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSK EIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSP AEIKDLAELCAALKHHHHHH Lip-Variant 1 (ST1, 4, 5) with alpha-type bond and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 20 LipCSSFNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTVAADKVTLKVTEGTVTLSK HIPNSGEITVELDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSNTSTLTITVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTICVQNYDSNGTNLEGKC VEITTLKELKNALK Lip-Variant 2 (ST1, 4, 5) with beta-type bond and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 21 LipCSSFNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTVAADKVTLKVTCGTVTLSK HIPNSGEITVELDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSNTSTLTITVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGKA VEITTLKELCNALK Lip-Variant 3 (ST1, 4, 5) with beta-type bond and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 22 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTCGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGK AVEITTLKELCNALK Lip-Variant 4 (ST1, 4, 5) with alpha-type bond and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 23 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTEGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTICVQNYDSNGTNLEGK CVEITTLKELKNALK Lip-Variant 5 (ST2, 3, 6) with beta-type bond and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 24 LipCSSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSK EIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTRATKKTGKWDSKTSTLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSP AEIKDLAELCAALK Lip-Variant 6 (ST2, 3, 6) with beta-type bond and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 25 LipCSSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSK EIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSKKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSP AEIKDLAELCAALK Lip-V3-L2-V5-His6 (protein sequence) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 26 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTCGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGK AVEITTLKELCNALKGTSANNQAGQKSSGSTQATTPNLTFEKYSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMK SDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSKEIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTRATKKTGKWDSKTS TLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSPAEIKDLAELCAALKLEHHHHHH Lip-V3-L2-V5-His6 (nucleotide sequence) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) SEQ ID NO: 27 TGCTCAAGCTTCAATGCAAAAGGTGAACTGAGCGAAAAAACCATTCTGCGTGCAAATGGCACCCGTCTGG AATATACCGAAATCAAAAGTGATGGCACCGGTAAAGCAAAAGAAGTGCTGAAAGATTTTGCACTGGAAGG CACCGTTGCAGCAGATGGTAAAGTTACCCTGAAAGTTACCTGTGGCACCGTGACCCTGAGCAAAAACATT AGCAAAAGCGGTGAAATTACCGTTGCCCTGGATGATACCGATAGCAGCGCAGCAACCAAAAAAACCGCAG CATGGGATAGCGGCACCAGCACCCTGACCATTACCGTTAATAGTAAAAAAACCAAACAGCTGGTGTTTAC CAAAGAGGATACCATTACGGTTCAGAACTATGATAGCAATGGTACGAATCTGGAAGGTAAAGCCGTTGAA ATCACCACACTGAAAGAACTGTGTAATGCACTGAAAGGTACTAGTGCAAATAATCAGGCAGGTCAGAAAA GCAGCGGTAGCACCCAGGCAACCACCCCGAATCTGACCTTTGAAAAGTACTCATTTAACGAGAAAGGCGA GCTGTCAGCAAAAACCATGACCCGTGAAAATGGAACCAAACTGGAATACACGGAAATGAAATCAGATGGT ACAGGCAAAGCCAAAGAGGTCCTGAAAAACTTCACCCTGGAAGGGAAAGTTGCCAATGATAAAGTGACAC TGGAAGTTAAATGTGGTACAGTTACACTGAGCAAAGAAATTGCCAAATCAGGTGAAGTGACCGTGGCACT GAATGATACAAATACCACCCGTGCCACAAAAAAAACAGGTAAATGGGATAGTAAAACGAGCACACTGACA ATTAGTGTGAATAGCCAGAAAACGAAAAACCTGGTGTTCACGAAAGAAGATACAATCACCGTACAGAATT ATGATTCAGCAGGCACCAACCTGGAAGGTTCACCGGCAGAAATTAAAGATCTGGCCGAACTGTGTGCAGC CCTGAAACTCGAGCACCACCACCACCACCAC Lip-V3-L2-V5 (protein sequence) with lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 28 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTVAADGKVTLKVTCGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSAATKKTAAWDSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSNGTNLEGK AVEITTLKELCNALKGTSANNQAGQKSSGSTQATTPNLTFEKYSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMK SDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSKEIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTRATKKTGKWDSKTS TLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGSPAEIKDLAELCAALK Lip-V3-L2-V5 (nucleotide sequence) SEQ ID NO: 29 TGCTCAAGCTTCAATGCAAAAGGTGAACTGAGCGAAAAAACCATTCTGCGTGCAAATGGCACCCGTCTGG AATATACCGAAATCAAAAGTGATGGCACCGGTAAAGCAAAAGAAGTGCTGAAAGATTTTGCACTGGAAGG CACCGTTGCAGCAGATGGTAAAGTTACCCTGAAAGTTACCTGTGGCACCGTGACCCTGAGCAAAAACATT AGCAAAAGCGGTGAAATTACCGTTGCCCTGGATGATACCGATAGCAGCGCAGCAACCAAAAAAACCGCAG CATGGGATAGCGGCACCAGCACCCTGACCATTACCGTTAATAGTAAAAAAACCAAACAGCTGGTGTTTAC CAAAGAGGATACCATTACGGTTCAGAACTATGATAGCAATGGTACGAATCTGGAAGGTAAAGCCGTTGAA ATCACCACACTGAAAGAACTGTGTAATGCACTGAAAGGTACTAGTGCAAATAATCAGGCAGGTCAGAAAA GCAGCGGTAGCACCCAGGCAACCACCCCGAATCTGACCTTTGAAAAGTACTCATTTAACGAGAAAGGCGA GCTGTCAGCAAAAACCATGACCCGTGAAAATGGAACCAAACTGGAATACACGGAAATGAAATCAGATGGT ACAGGCAAAGCCAAAGAGGTCCTGAAAAACTTCACCCTGGAAGGGAAAGTTGCCAATGATAAAGTGACAC TGGAAGTTAAATGTGGTACAGTTACACTGAGCAAAGAAATTGCCAAATCAGGTGAAGTGACCGTGGCACT GAATGATACAAATACCACCCGTGCCACAAAAAAAACAGGTAAATGGGATAGTAAAACGAGCACACTGACA ATTAGTGTGAATAGCCAGAAAACGAAAAACCTGGTGTTCACGAAAGAAGATACAATCACCGTACAGAATT ATGATTCAGCAGGCACCAACCTGGAAGGTTCACCGGCAGAAATTAAAGATCTGGCCGAACTGTGTGCAGC CCTGAAA 23 amino acid signal sequence for lipidation from E. coli including a non-cleaved CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 30 MKATKLVLGAVILGSTLLAGCSS 6-histidine tag SEQ ID NO: 31 HHHHHH 23 amino acid linker sequence (L2) SEQ ID NO: 32 ANNQAGQKSSGSTQATTPNLTFE Lip-Monomer ST1 (aa 126-273. strain B31, NP_045688.1) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 33 LipCSSFNEKGEVSEKIITRADGTRLEYTGIKSDGSGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKTTLVVKCGTVTLSK NISKSGEVSVELNDTDSSAATKKTAAWNSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKDLVFTKENTITVQQYDSNGTKLEGSA VEITKLDEICNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-Monomer ST2 (aa 126-273, strain K78, AJY72832.1) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 34 LipCSSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSK EIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSKKTTQLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGTA VEIKTLDELCNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-Monomer ST3 (aa 126-274, strain PBr, YP_002476925.1) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 35 LipCSSFNDKGKLSEKVVTRANGTRLEYTEIKNDGSGKAKEVLKGFALEGTLTDGGETKLTVTCGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQKPKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGS PAEIKDLAELCAALKLEHHHHHH Lip-Monomer ST4 (aa 126-273, strain PBI, YP_063283.1) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 36 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTLAADKTTLKVTCGTVVLSK HIPNSGEITVELNDSNSTQATKKTGKWDSNTSTLTISVNSKKTKNIVFTKEDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGNA VEIKTLDELCNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-Monomer ST5 (aa 126-273, strain PHei, CAA56544.1) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 37 LipCSSFNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTCGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSGNKKSGTWDSGTSTLTISKNRTKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGKA VEITTLKELCNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-Monomer ST6 (aa 126-274, strain DK29, CAA45010) with C-terminal His-tag (LEHHHHHH) and lipidated N-terminal CSS peptide SEQ ID NO: 38 LipCSSFNGKGETSEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDGSGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTCGTVVLS KNILKSGEITAALDDSDTTRATKKTGKWDSKTSTLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQRYDSAGTNLEGK AVEITTLKELCNALKLEHHHHHH KLK peptide SEQ ID NO: 39 KLKLLLLLKLK oligo(dldC).sub.13 SEQ ID NO: 40 dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC dldC S3BvaHybD1: hybrid OspA C-terminal fragment; amino acids of positions 125-176 from Borrelia valaisiana, strain VS116, and amino acids 177-274 from Borrelia garinii, strain PBr, with disulfide bond type 1 and T in position 233 SEQ ID NO: 41 FNEKGEVSEKILTRSNGTTLEYSQMTDAENATKAVETLKNGIKLPGNLVGGKTKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISK SGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIK DLAELCAALK B. valaisiana (strain VS116) OspA, aa 125-176 SEQ ID NO: 42 FNEKGEVSEKILTRSNGTTLEYSQMTDAENATKAVETLKNGIKLPGNLVGGK B. garinii (strain PBr, serotype 3) OspA aa 1 77-274, with T in position 233, from full-length OspA (SEQ ID NO: 46) SEQ ID NO: 43 TKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISKSGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITV QNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDLAELCAALK B. valaisiana (strain VS116) OspA SEQ ID NO: 44 MKKYLLGIGLILALIACKQNVSSLDEKNSASVDLPGEMKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLVATVDKVELKGTSDKN NGSGTLEGVKDDKSKVKLTISDDLGETKLETFKEDGTLVSRKVNFKDKSFTEEKFNEKGEVSEKILTRSN GTTLEYSQMTDAENATKAVETLKNGIKLPGNLVGGKTTLKITEGTVTLSKHIAKSGEVTVEINDTSSTPN TKKTGKWDARNSTLTIIVDSKNKTKLVFTKQDTITVQSYNPAGNKLEGTAVEIKTLQELKNALK B. spielmanii (strain AUS) OspA, Accession number: AAD16455 SEQ ID NO: 45 MKKYLLGIGLILALIACKQNVSGLDEKNSTSVDVPGELKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLMATVDKLELKGTSDKN DGSGVLEGVKADKSKVKLTISDHLSKTTFEVFKEDGKTLVSRNVNSKDKSSTKEKFNEKGELSEKTLVRA NGTKLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLANEKATLTVKEGTVTLSKNIDKSGEVTVALNDTDSTAAT KKTGAWDSKTSTLTITVNSKKTKDLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTTLEGSAVEIKTLDELKNALK B. garinii (strain PBr, OspA serotype 3) OspA with T in position 233 (embl accession ACL34827.1) SEQ ID NO: 46 MKKYLLGIGLILALIACKQNVSSLDEKNSVSVDLPGGMKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLMATVEKLELKGTSDKS NGSGVLEGEKADKSKAKLTISQDLNQTTFEIFKEDGKTLVSRKVNSKDKSSTEEKFNDKGKLSEKVVTRA NGTRLEYTEIKNDGSGKAKEVLKGFALEGTLTDGGETKLTVTEGTVTLSKNISKSGEITVALNDTETTPA DKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDLAELKAALK Lip-S4D1-S3hybD1-nt Coding sequence for intermediate and final heterodimer fusion proteins of OspA serotype 4 and OspA serotype 3 with disulfide bond type 1, E. coli Ipp lipidation signal, LN1 linker sequence, serotype 3 OspA fragment comprising amino acids 125-176 of B. valaisiana, strain VS116 (SEQ ID NO: 42) and amino acids 177-274 of B. garinii, strain PBr, serotype 3 (SEQ ID NO: 43) SEQ ID NO: 47 ATGAAAGCTACTAAACTGGTACTGGGCGCGGTAATCCTGGGTTCTACTCTGCTGGCAGGTTGCTCAAGCT TCAATGCTAAGGGCGAACTGAGCGAAAAAACGATCCTGCGTGCGAATGGCACCCGTCTGGAATACACCGA AATCAAATCCGATGGTACGGGCAAAGCAAAGGAAGTCCTGAAAGATTTTGCTCTGGAAGGTACCCTGGCG GCCGACAAAACCACGCTGAAGGTGACGTGCGGCACCGTGGTTCTGAGCAAACATATTCCGAACTCTGGTG AAATCACCGTTGAACTGAACGATAGCAATTCTACGCAGGCAACCAAAAAGACGGGCAAATGGGACAGTAA TACCTCCACGCTGACCATTTCAGTCAACTCGAAAAAGACCAAAAATATTGTGTTCACGAAGGAAGATACG ATCACCGTTCAAAAATATGACTCCGCGGGCACCAACCTGGAAGGCAATGCCGTCGAAATCAAAACCCTGG ATGAACTGTGTAACGCCCTGAAGGGTACTAGTGACAAAAACAATGGCTCTGGTAGCAAAGAGAAAAACAA AGATGGCAAGTACTCATTCAACGAAAAAGGCGAAGTGAGCGAAAAAATTCTGACCCGTAGCAATGGCACC ACCCTGGAATATAGCCAGATGACCGATGCAGAAAATGCAACCAAAGCAGTTGAAACCCTGAAAAACGGTA TTAAACTGCCTGGTAATCTGGTTGGTGGTAAAACCAAACTGACCGTTACCTGTGGCACCGTTACCCTGAG CAAAAACATTAGCAAAAGCGGTGAAATTACCGTGGCACTGAATGATACCGAAACCACACCGGCAGACAAA AAAACCGGTGAATGGAAAAGCGATACCAGCACCCTGACCATTAGTAAAAATAGCCAGAAAACAAAACAGC TGGTGTTTACCAAAGAAAACACCATTACCGTGCAGAATTATAACCGTGCAGGTAATGCACTGGAAGGTAG TCCGGCAGAAATTAAAGATCTGGCAGAACTGTGTGCAGCCCTGAAATAA Lip-S4D1-S3hybD1-aa: Heterodimer fusion protein of OspA serotype 4 and OspA serotype 3, comprising amino acids 125-176 of B. valaisiana, strain VS116 (SEQ ID NO: 42) and amino acids 177-274 of B. garinii, strain PBr, serotype 3 (SEQ ID NO: 43) (aka S3BvaHybD1), with disulfide bond type 1, N-terminal CSS for addition of lipids, LN1 linker sequence, N-terminal lipidation SEQ ID NO: 48 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTLAADKTTLKVTCGTVVLSK HIPNSGEITVELNDSNSTQATKKTGKWDSNTSTLTISVNSKKTKNIVFTKEDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGNA VEIKTLDELCNALKGTSDKNNGSGSKEKNKDGKYSFNEKGEVSEKILTRSNGTTLEYSQMTDAENATKAV ETLKNGIKLPGNLVGGKTKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISKSGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKN SQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDLAELCAALK Lip-S1D1-S2D1-nt: Coding sequence for intermediate and final heterodimer fusion proteins of OspA serotype 1 and OspA serotype 2 with disulfide bond type 1, E. coli Ipp lipidation signal, LN1 linker sequence, aa 164-174 of OspA serotype 1 replaced by non-hLFA-1-like sequence NFTLEGKVAND SEQ ID NO: 49 ATGAAAGCTACTAAACTGGTACTGGGCGCGGTAATCCTGGGTTCTACTCTGCTGGCAGGTTGCTCAAGCT TCAACGAAAAGGGCGAAGTCAGCGAAAAAATCATTACCCGCGCAGACGGCACCCGCCTGGAATACACCGG CATCAAATCGGACGGCAGCGGCAAAGCGAAAGAAGTTCTGAAAAACTTTACCCTGGAAGGCAAAGTCGCA AATGATAAAACCACCCTGGTGGTGAAATGCGGCACCGTTACGCTGAGCAAAAACATTAGTAAATCCGGTG AAGTCTCTGTGGAACTGAATGATACCGACAGCTCTGCGGCCACCAAGAAAACCGCAGCTTGGAACTCAGG CACCTCGACGCTGACCATTACGGTTAATAGCAAGAAAACCAAAGATCTGGTCTTCACGAAAGAAAACACC ATCACGGTGCAGCAATATGACAGCAATGGTACCAAACTGGAAGGCTCCGCTGTGGAAATCACGAAACTGG ATGAAATCTGTAATGCTCTGAAAGGTACTAGTGACAAAAACAATGGCTCTGGTAGCAAAGAGAAAAACAA AGATGGCAAGTACTCATTCAACGAAAAAGGCGAACTGTCGGCGAAAACGATGACGCGTGAAAACGGCACC AAACTGGAATATACGGAAATGAAAAGCGATGGCACCGGTAAAGCGAAAGAAGTTCTGAAAAACTTTACCC TGGAAGGCAAAGTCGCCAATGACAAAGTCACCCTGGAAGTGAAATGCGGCACCGTTACGCTGTCAAAAGA AATTGCAAAATCGGGTGAAGTGACCGTTGCTCTGAACGATACGAATACCACGCAAGCGACCAAGAAAACC GGCGCCTGGGACAGCAAAACCTCTACGCTGACCATTAGTGTTAATAGCAAGAAAACCACGCAGCTGGTCT TCACCAAACAAGATACGATCACCGTGCAGAAATACGACAGTGCGGGTACCAACCTGGAAGGCACGGCTGT TGAAATCAAAACCCTGGACGAACTGTGTAACGCCCTGAAA Lip-S1D1-S2D1-aa: Heterodimer fusion protein of OspA serotype 1 and OspA serotype 2 with disulfide bond type 1, N-terminal CSS for addition of lipids, LN1 linker sequence, aa 164-174 of OspA serotype 1 replaced by non-hLFA-1-like sequence NFTLEGKVAND, N-terminal lipidation SEQ ID NO: 50 LipCSSFNEKGEVSEKIITRADGTRLEYTGIKSDGSGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKTTLVVKCGTVTLSK NISKSGEVSVELNDTDSSAATKKTAAWNSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKDLVFTKENTITVQQYDSNGTKLEGSA VEITKLDEICNALKGTSDKNNGSGSKEKNKDGKYSFNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKE VLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSKEIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSK KTTQLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGTAVEIKTLDELCNALK Lip-S4D1-S3D1-nt: Coding sequence for intermediate and final heterodimer fusion proteins of OspA serotypes 4 and 3 both with disulfide bond type 1, E. coli Ipp lipidation signal, N-terminal CSS for addition of lipids, LN1 linker sequence SEQ ID NO: 51 ATGAAAGCTACTAAACTGGTACTGGGCGCGGTAATCCTGGGTTCTACTCTGCTGGCAGGTTGCTCAAGCT TCAATGCTAAGGGCGAACTGAGCGAAAAAACGATCCTGCGTGCGAATGGCACCCGTCTGGAATACACCGA AATCAAATCCGATGGTACGGGCAAAGCAAAGGAAGTCCTGAAAGATTTTGCTCTGGAAGGTACCCTGGCG GCCGACAAAACCACGCTGAAGGTGACGTGCGGCACCGTGGTTCTGAGCAAACATATTCCGAACTCTGGTG AAATCACCGTTGAACTGAACGATAGCAATTCTACGCAGGCAACCAAAAAGACGGGCAAATGGGACAGTAA TACCTCCACGCTGACCATTTCAGTCAACTCGAAAAAGACCAAAAATATTGTGTTCACGAAGGAAGATACG ATCACCGTTCAAAAATATGACTCCGCGGGCACCAACCTGGAAGGCAATGCCGTCGAAATCAAAACCCTGG ATGAACTGTGTAACGCCCTGAAGGGTACTAGTGACAAAAACAATGGCTCTGGTAGCAAAGAGAAAAACAA AGATGGCAAGTACTCATTTAACGATAAGGGCAAACTGTCGGAAAAAGTGGTCACCCGCGCAAATGGCACC CGCCTGGAATACACGGAAATCAAAAACGATGGTAGCGGCAAAGCGAAGGAAGTTCTGAAAGGCTTTGCCC TGGAAGGTACCCTGACGGATGGCGGTGAAACCAAACTGACCGTGACGTGCGGCACCGTTACGCTGTCTAA AAACATTAGCAAGTCTGGTGAAATCACGGTCGCACTGAATGATACCGAAACCACGCCGGCTGACAAAAAG ACCGGCGAATGGAAAAGTGACACCTCCACGCTGACCATTTCAAAGAACTCGCAGAAACCGAAGCAACTGG TCTTCACCAAAGAAAACACGATCACCGTGCAGAACTATAATCGTGCCGGTAATGCTCTGGAAGGCTCACC GGCTGAAATCAAGGACCTGGCTGAACTGTGTGCGGCACTGAAA Lip-S4D1-S3D1-aa: Heterodimer fusion protein of OspA serotypes 4 and 3 both with disulfide bond type 1, N-terminal CSS for addition of lipids, LN1 linker sequence, N-terminal lipidation SEQ ID NO: 52 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTLAADKTTLKVTCGTVVLSK HIPNSGEITVELNDSNSTQATKKTGKWDSNTSTLTISVNSKKTKNIVFTKEDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGNA VEIKTLDELCNALKGTSDKNNGSGSKEKNKDGKYSFNDKGKLSEKVVTRANGTRLEYTEIKNDGSGKAKE VLKGFALEGTLTDGGETKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISKSGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNS QKPKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDLAELCAALK Lip-S5D1-S6D1-nt: Coding sequence for intermediate and final heterodimer fusion proteins of OspA serotypes 6 both with disulfide bond type 1, E. coli Ipp lipidation signal, N-terminal CSS for addition of lipids. LN1 linker sequence SEQ ID NO: 53 ATGAAAGCTACTAAACTGGTACTGGGCGCGGTAATCCTGGGTTCTACTCTGCTGGCAGGTTGCTCAAGCT TCAACGAAAAGGGCGAAATCTCAGAAAAAACCATCGTCCGCGCTAACGGCACCCGCCTGGAATACACCGA CATCAAATCAGACAAGACCGGTAAAGCGAAGGAAGTTCTGAAAGATTTTACGCTGGAAGGTACCCTGGCA GCAGACGGTAAAACCACGCTGAAGGTGACCTGCGGTACCGTTACGCTGTCCAAAAACATTAGTAAGTCCG GCGAAATCACGGTCGCCCTGGATGACACCGATAGCTCTGGCAACAAAAAGAGCGGTACCTGGGATTCAGG CACCTCGACGCTGACCATTTCTAAAAATCGTACGAAAACCAAGCAGCTGGTCTTCACGAAAGAAGATACG ATCACCGTGCAAAACTATGACAGCGCAGGTACCAATCTGGAAGGCAAAGCTGTGGAAATTACCACGCTGA AAGAACTGTGTAATGCTCTGAAAGGTACTAGTGACAAAAACAATGGCTCTGGTAGCAAAGAGAAAAACAA AGATGGCAAGTACTCATTCAACGGCAAAGGTGAAACGAGCGAAAAGACCATCGTGCGTGCGAACGGTACC CGCCTGGAATATACGGACATTAAATCGGACGGCAGCGGCAAAGCAAAGGAAGTCCTGAAAGATTTTACGC TGGAAGGTACCCTGGCAGCAGACGGTAAAACCACGCTGAAGGTGACGTGCGGCACCGTGGTTCTGTCAAA AAACATTCTGAAGTCGGGTGAAATCACCGCAGCTCTGGATGACAGCGATACCACGCGTGCTACGAAAAAG ACCGGTAAATGGGATAGCAAGACCTCTACGCTGACCATTAGTGTCAACTCCCAGAAAACGAAGAATCTGG TGTTCACCAAAGAAGATACGATCACCGTTCAACGCTATGACAGTGCGGGCACCAACCTGGAAGGCAAAGC CGTTGAAATTACCACGCTGAAAGAACTGTGTAATGCTCTGAAA Lip-S5D1-S6D1-aa: Heterodimer fusion protein of OspA serotypes 6 both with disulfide bond type 1, N-terminal CSS for addition of lipids, LN1 linker sequence, N-terminal lipidation SEQ ID NO: 54 LipCSSFNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTCGTVTLS KNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSGNKKSGTWDSGTSTLTISKNRTKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGKA VEITTLKELCNALKGTSDKNNGSGSKEKNKDGKYSFNGKGETSEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDGSGKAKE VLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTCGTVVLSKNILKSGEITAALDDSDTTRATKKTGKWDSKTSTLTISVNS QKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQRYDSAGTNLEGKAVEITTLKELCNALK S1D1 SEQ ID NO: 55 FNEKGEVSEKIITRADGTRLEYTGIKSDGSGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKTTLVVKCGTVTLSKNISKSG EVSVELNDTDSSAATKKTAAWNSGTSTLTITVNSKKTKDLVFTKENTITVQQYDSNGTKLEGSAVEITKL DEICNALK S2D1 SEQ ID NO: 56 FNEKGELSAKTMTRENGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKCGTVTLSKEIAKSG EVTVALNDTNTTQATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSKKTTQLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGTAVEIKTL DELCNALK S3D1 SEQ ID NO: 57 FNDKGKLSEKVVTRANGTRLEYTEIKNDGSGKAKEVLKGFALEGTLTDGGETKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISKS GEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKD LAELCAALK S4D1 SEQ ID NO: 58 FNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTLAADKTTLKVTCGTVVLSKHIPNSG EITVELNDSNSTQATKKTGKWDSNTSTLTISVNSKKTKNIVFTKEDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGNAVEIKTL DELCNALK S5D1 SEQ ID NO: 59 FNEKGEISEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTCGTVTLSKNISKS GEITVALDDTDSSGNKKSGTWDSGTSTLTISKNRTKTKQLVFTKEDTITVQNYDSAGTNLEGKAVEITTL KELCNALK S6D1 SEQ ID NO: 60 FNGKGETSEKTIVRANGTRLEYTDIKSDGSGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTCGTVVLSKNILKS GEITAALDDSDTTRATKKTGKWDSKTSTLTISVNSQKTKNLVFTKEDTITVQRYDSAGTNLEGKAVEITT LKELCNALK S3BvaHybD1 (Bva) SEQ ID NO: 61 FNEKGEVSEKILTRSNGTTLEYSQMTDAENATKAVETLKNGIKLPGNLVGGKTKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISK SGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIK DLAELCAALK BvaD1 (Bva C-terminal fragment with introduced disulfide bond) SEQ ID NO: 62 FNEKGEVSEKILTRSNGTTLEYSQMTDAENATKAVETLKNGIKLPGNLVGGKTTLKITCGTVTLSKHIAK SGEVTVEINDTSSTPNTKKTGKWDARNSTLTIIVDSKNKTKLVFTKQDTITVQSYNPAGNKLEGTAVEIK TLQELCNALK S3BspHybD1 (Bsp): hybrid OspA C-terminal fragment; amino acids 126-175 from Borrelia spielmanii and amino acids 177-274 from Borrelia garinii, strain PBr, with disulfide bond type 1 and T in position 233 SEQ ID NO: 63 FNEKGELSEKTLVRANGTKLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLANEKTKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISKSG EITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDL AELCAALK BspD1 (Bsp C-terminal fragment with introduced disulfide bond) SEQ ID NO: 64 FNEKGELSEKTLVRANGTKLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLANEKATLTVKCGTVTLSKNIDKSG EVTVALNDTDSTAATKKTGAWDSKTSTLTITVNSKKTKDLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTTLEGSAVEIKTL DELCNALK Borrelia OspA lipidation signal SEQ ID NO: 65 MKKYLLGIGLILALIA Borrelia OspB lipidation signal SEQ ID NO: 66 MRLLIGFALALALIG E. coli Ipp lipidation signal SEQ ID NO: 67 MKATKLVLGAVILGSTLLAG LN1 peptide linker constructed from two separate loop regions of the N-terminal half of OspA from B. burgdorferi s.s. strain B31 (aa 65-74 and aa 42-53, amino acid exchange at position 53: D53S) SEQ ID NO: 68 GTSDKNNGSGSKEKNKDGKYS Chimeric OspA Serotype1/Serotype2, N-terminal lipidation, His-tagged, including the OspB lipidation signal sequence: MRLLIGFALALALIG (SEQ ID NO: 66) which is cleaved during processing SEQ ID NO: 69 MRLLIGFALALALIGCAQKGAESIGSVSVDLPGEMKVLVSKEKDKNGKYDLIATVDKLELKGTSDKNNGS GVLEGVKTNKSKVKLTISDDLGQTTLEVFKEDGKTLVSKKVTSKDKSSTEEKFNEKGEVSEKIITMADGT RLEYTGIKSDGTGKAKYVLKNFTLEGKVANDKTTLEVKEGTVTLSMNISKSGEVSVELNDTDSSAATKKT AAWNSKTSTLTISVNSKKTTQLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGTAVEIKTLDELKNALKLEHHHHHH Chimeric OspA Serotype5/Serotype3, N-terminal lipidation, His-tagged, including the OspB lipidation signal sequence: MRLLIGFALALALIG (SEQ ID NO: 66) which is cleaved during processing SEQ ID NO: 70 MRLLIGFALALALIGCAQKGAESIGSVSVDLPGGMKVLVSKEKDKNGKYSLMATVEKLELKGTSDKNNGS GTLEGEKTNKSKVKLTIAEDLSKTTFEIFKEDGKTLVSKKVTLKDKSSTEEKFNEKGEISEKTIVMANGT RLEYTDIKSDKTGKAKYVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTEGTVTLSMNISKSGEITVALDDTDSSGNKKS GTWDSDTSTLTISKNSQKTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDLAELKAALKLEHHHHHH Chimeric OspA Serotype6/Serotype4, N-terminal lipidation, His-tagged, including the OspB lipidation signal sequence: MRLLIGFALALALIG (SEQ ID NO: 66) which is cleaved during processing SEQ ID NO: 71 MRLLIGFALALALIGCAQKGAESIGSVSVDLPGGMTVLVSKEKDKNGKYSLEATVDKLELKGTSDKNNGS GTLEGEKTNKSKVKLTIADDLSQTKFEIFKEDAKTLVSKKVTLKDKSSTEEKFNEKGETSEKTIVMANGT RLEYTDIKSDGSGKAKYVLKDFTLEGTLAADGKTTLKVTEGTVVLSMNILKSGEITVALDDSDTTQATKK TGKWDSNTSTLTISVNSKKTKNIVFTKEDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGNAVEIKTLDELKNALKLEHHHHHH Lip-S4D1-S3BspHybD1-aa: Heterodimer fusion protein of OspA serotype 4 and OspA serotype 3, comprising amino acids 125-175 of B. spielmanii, strain A14S (SEQ ID NO: 73) and amino acids 177-274 of B. garinii, strain PBr, serotype 3 (SEQ ID NO: 43), with disulfide bond type 1, N-terminal CSS for addition of lipids, LN1 linker sequence, N-terminal lipidation SEQ ID NO: 72 LipCSSFNAKGELSEKTILRANGTRLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFALEGTLAADKTTLKVTCGTVVLSK HIPNSGEITVELNDSNSTQATKKTGKWDSNTSTLTISVNSKKTKNIVFTKEDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGNA VEIKTLDELCNALKGTSDKNNGSGSKEKNKDGKYSFNEKGELSEKTLVRANGTKLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKE VLKDFTLEGTLANEKTKLTVTCGTVTLSKNISKSGEITVALNDTETTPADKKTGEWKSDTSTLTISKNSQ KTKQLVFTKENTITVQNYNRAGNALEGSPAEIKDLAELCAALK B. spielmanii (strain A14S) OspA, aa 126-175 SEQ ID NO: 73 FNEKGELSEKTLVRANGTKLEYTEIKSDGTGKAKEVLKDFTLEGTLANEK B. afzelii OspA (strain K78; OspA serotype 2) SEQ ID NO: 74 MKKYLLGIGLILALIACKQNVSSLDEKNSASVDLPGEMKVLVSKEKDKDGKYSLKATVDKIELKGTSDKD NGSGVLEGTKDDKSKAKLTIADDLSKTTFELFKEDGKTLVSRKVSSKDKTSTDEMFNEKGELSAKTMTRE NGTKLEYTEMKSDGTGKAKEVLKNFTLEGKVANDKVTLEVKEGTVTLSKEIAKSGEVTVALNDTNTTQAT KKTGAWDSKTSTLTISVNSKKTTQLVFTKQDTITVQKYDSAGTNLEGTAVEIKTLDELKNALK Alternative His-tag SEQ ID NO: 75 LEHHHHHH

MULTIVALENT OSPA POLYPEPTIDES AND METHODS AND USES RELATING THERETO

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Cpc classification

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A61P31/04

HUMAN NECESSITIES

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C07K14/20

CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY

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A61K2039/55505

HUMAN NECESSITIES

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C07K2319/02

CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY

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C07K2319/90

CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY

Classification Explorer

A61K2039/70

HUMAN NECESSITIES

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A61K2039/575

HUMAN NECESSITIES

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A61K39/39

HUMAN NECESSITIES

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Y02A50/30

GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS

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A61K39/0225

HUMAN NECESSITIES

International classification

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C07K14/20

CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY

Classification Explorer

A61K39/02

HUMAN NECESSITIES

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A61K39/39

HUMAN NECESSITIES

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A61P31/04

HUMAN NECESSITIES

Abstract

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