Analysis of antibody response in humans to the type A OspC loop 5 domain and assessment of the potential utility of the loop 5 epitope in Lyme disease vaccine development.

The OspC protein of Borrelia burgdorferi is an immunodominant antigen. Here we demonstrate that the loop 5 domain of type A OspC is surface exposed, elicits bactericidal antibody in mice, and is antigenic in humans. The data suggest that loop 5 may be suitable for inclusion in a polyvalent, chimeric OspC vaccinogen.