Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and transmitted to the human or animal host by an Ixodes tick bite. This disease, characterized by a huge clinical polymorphism, is the most common vector-born disease in the Northern Hemisphere. An antibiotic treatment allows a fast recovery, but if it is diagnosed too late, some symptoms persist. Currently, no vaccine is marketed for humans. In this context, we have developed proteomic approaches to bring new understanding to the interaction mechanism of the triad tick / bacteria / host. This work, aimed particularly at the development of new vaccinal and diagnostic strategies, has three parts: - Identification, after numerous optimizations, of the analytical method HPLC-UV and nanoLC-MS/MS, of proteins that are present in tick salivary gland extracts and having activity on cutaneous innate immunity response. This work has highlighted a list of proteins with a potential biological activity. - Development, with a murine model, of a method for detecting Borrelia burgdorferi protein, OspC, in cutaneous biopsies by targeted mass spectrometry LC-SRM. This study has opened up perspectives concerning new diagnostic tools. - Evaluation of the feasibility of the Borrelia burgdorferi detection directly on the skin surface by MALDI imaging mass spectrometry.
