Chimeritope technology:
The team identified the piece of OspC, known as an epitope, that triggers the immune response and found that was the part that varies so widely worldwide. Based on [an] earlier epiphany in [Dr. Richard T. Marconi’s] lab, the team then invented a next-generation process they call chimeritope technology. Using this approach, they designed a DNA molecule comprising the epitope encoding sequences from several different variants of OspC. The word chimeritope is formed from the words chimeric — joining together parts of different organisms — and epitope. [VCU Health]
Epitope:
An epitope, also known as antigenic determinant, is the part of an antigen that is recognized by the immune system, specifically by antibodies, B cells, or T cells. The part of an antibody that binds to the epitope is called a paratope. Although epitopes are usually non-self proteins, sequences derived from the host that can be recognized (as in the case of autoimmune diseases) are also epitopes. [Wikipedia]
Noted in “Why Lyme disease and other tick-borne conditions are on the rise,” Carrie Arnold, NewScientist (21 June 2025, paywall):
Using a new technique that he and his lab dubbed “chimeritope technology”, they stitched together small snippets of different OspC protein antigens that provoked an immune response. This super protein proved effective enough for a vaccine for dogs that was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2016. A human vaccine is on its way – Marconi’s lab is currently working with the National Institutes of Health to get it into human trials and then on to market in the next several years.
The same Marconi as above. OspC is used by the responsible bacteria to evade the human immune system, and there’s twenty one known variants; thus the need for chimeritope technology to construct a vaccine that applies to all those variants.
