Lyme Disease: Biology, tick transmission, and vaccine developments

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60077344%3A_____%2F25%3A00641434" target="_blank" >RIV/60077344:_____/25:00641434 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Lyme Disease: Biology, tick transmission, and vaccine developments

Original language description

Ticks (chelicerates) are important vectors of diseases in humans and animals worldwide. While the Toll and IMD signaling pathways are well known regulators of innate immunity in Drosophila and blood-feeding insects, their role in ticks is still poorly understood. Here, we mapped and functionally characterized the Toll pathway in the European tick Ixodes ricinus, a vector of Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis virus. In contrast to Drosophila, where the Toll pathway primarily responds to Gram-positive bacteria, our results show that the Toll pathway in I. ricinus is activated by Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli), which is more similar to innate immune recognition patterns observed in mammals. In contrast, the tick IMD pathway exhibits signs of significant reduction. We have also investigated how this immune pathway interacts with the spirochete Borrelia afzelii and the apicomplexan parasite Babesia microti. We are currently developing innovative nanovaccine formulations that target surface proteins of these pathogens. By using multimeric carrier systems, we have achieved significantly higher antibody titers compared to conventional monomeric vaccines. Remarkably, these nanovaccines completely blocked the transmission of the pathogen from the tick to the host in our experimental models, underlining their great potential for future translational applications.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

10606 - Microbiology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů