Sequential immunization with vesicles prepared from heterologous Neisseria meningitidis strains elicits broadly protective serum antibodies to group B strains.

ABSTRACT: The capsular polysaccharide of Neisseria meningitidis group B is an autoantigen, whereas noncapsular antigens are highly variable. These factors present formidable challenges for development of a broadly protective and safe group B vaccine. Mice and guinea pigs were sequentially immunized with three doses of micovesicles or outer membrane vesicles prepared from three meningococcal strains that were each antigenically heterologous with respect to the two major porin proteins, PorA and PorB, and the group capsular polysaccharide. The resulting antisera conferred passive protection against meningococcal group B bacteremia in infant rats and elicited complement-mediated bactericidal activity against genetically diverse group B strains that were either homologous or heterologous with respect to

SUBMITTER: Moe GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC130404 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature