# Low-cost Production of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease in Maize

> **NIH NIH R43** · APPLIED BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE · 2021 · $282,857

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
In keeping with the NIH’s stated priority for the development of vaccines to bacterial zoonoses, our goal is to
develop an effective and conveniently delivered vaccine to protect against the spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi,
the causative agent of Lyme disease. The bacterium is vectored by infected Ixodes species ticks between
humans and mammalian reservoirs.
Our chosen antigen candidate is OspA, a surface protein which presents as the spirochaete transits between
the arthropod vector and the mammalian host. Vaccination with this antigen allows protective antibodies to
encounter the spirochaete while still inside the tick as it engorges with a blood meal, and has been shown to be
effective as a transmission blocking vaccine.
In order to develop adequate amounts of antigen for an effective and adequate immune response, we have
established a proprietorial expression system using recombinant maize. An additional advantage of maize
expression is that vaccine antigens can be directly administered through the oral route rather than purified for
injection. In this proposal, our goal is to produce large amounts of OspA antigen candidate in maize, orally
administer the antigen to mice in feed formulated from recombinant maize flour, and demonstrate that the antigen
elicits a protective immune response against challenge.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10146601
- **Project number:** 1R43AI152650-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** APPLIED BIOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Erin Egelkrout
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $282,857
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-02 → 2023-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10146601

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10146601, Low-cost Production of a Vaccine for Lyme Disease in Maize (1R43AI152650-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10146601. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*