La Jolla research could point to Lyme disease vaccine

La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology scientist Dr Mitchell Kronenberg and an international team of scientists have identified that Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, contains a glycolipid that triggers an immune response from the body’s natural killer (NK) T-cells, a type of white blood cell.

The finding is particularly exciting, the researchers say, because it is one of the few glycolipids found to naturally induce an immune response from the body’s NK T-cells, which are prized for their ability to initiate a fast and vigorous attack against infection. The scientists are hopeful that this glycolipid can be used to create a vaccine against Lyme disease.

This was the second major finding on NK T-cells published in the last year by Dr Kronenberg and his team. In a June 2005, Dr Kronenberg and colleagues reported having identified a bacteria, Sphingomonas, as containing a glycolipid that also triggers an NK T-cell response.

After identifying the Sphingomonas bacteria last year as an NK T-cell activator, Dr Kronenberg strongly suspected that other bacteria might also activate these cells, which led to the discovery of the Borrelia burgdorferi antigen. He believes that many other types of bacteria may also produce an immune response from NK T-cells. “This is an exciting possibility that needs to be further explored as it could lead to the development of vaccines or treatments for many bacteria-caused diseases,” he said.

Prior to Dr Kronenberg’s findings, only one compound, developed by the Kirin Pharmaceutical Research Company in the 1990s, was known to activate the NK T-cells. That compound was found to have anti-tumor activity and is currently in clinical trials for several tumor types.