Neisseria meningitidis: Biology, Microbiology, and Epidemiology

Rouphael, Nadine; Stephens, David S.

doi:10.1007/978-1-61779-346-2_1

Cited by 332 publications

(314 citation statements)

References 130 publications

(128 reference statements)

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“…eisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) infections contribute significantly to mortality and morbidity worldwide (1). Implementation of capsular polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines against serogroups A, C, Y, and W into the routine immunization schedules of developed countries has been successful (2)(3)(4)(5), but this approach cannot be used for serogroup B strains.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recombinant Protein Truncation Strategy for Inducing Bactericidal Antibodies to the Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator Protein of Neisseria meningitidis and Circumventing Potential Cross-Reactivity with Human FK506-Binding Proteins

et al. 2015

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A recombinant macrophage infectivity potentiator (rMIP) protein of Neisseria meningitidis induces significant serum bactericidal antibody production in mice and is a candidate meningococcal vaccine antigen. However, bioinformatics analysis of MIP showed some amino acid sequence similarity to human FK506-binding proteins (FKBPs) in residues 166 to 252 located in the globular domain of the protein. To circumvent the potential concern over generating antibodies that could recognize human proteins, we immunized mice with recombinant truncated type I rMIP proteins that lacked the globular domain and the signal leader peptide (LP) signal sequence (amino acids 1 to 22) and contained the His purification tag at either the N or C terminus (C-term). The immunogenicity of truncated rMIP proteins was compared to that of full (i.e., full-length) rMIP proteins (containing the globular domain) with either an N-or C-terminal His tag and with or without the LP sequence. By comparing the functional murine antibody responses to these various constructs, we determined that C-term His truncated rMIP (؊LP) delivered in liposomes induced high levels of antibodies that bound to the surface of wild-type but not ⌬mip mutant meningococci and showed bactericidal activity against homologous type I MIP (median titers of 128 to 256) and heterologous type II and III (median titers of 256 to 512) strains, thereby providing at least 82% serogroup B strain coverage. In contrast, in constructs lacking the LP, placement of the His tag at the N terminus appeared to abrogate bactericidal activity. The strategy used in this study would obviate any potential concerns regarding the use of MIP antigens for inclusion in bacterial vaccines. N eisseria meningitidis (meningococcus) infections contribute significantly to mortality and morbidity worldwide (1). Implementation of capsular polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines against serogroups A, C, Y, and W into the routine immunization schedules of developed countries has been successful (2-5), but this approach cannot be used for serogroup B strains. The polysaccharide capsule of serogroup B meningococci (MenB) shows structural mimicry of human fetal brain neural cell adhesion molecules (6). Licensed MenB vaccines based on lipooligosaccharide (LOS)-depleted outer membrane (OM) vesicles (V) have been used to control serosubtype strain-specific clonal outbreaks of MenB infection, e.g., in Norway (7), Cuba (8), Brazil (9), and New Zealand (10), but they do not provide cross-strain protection (11). Recently, the 4CMenB (Bexsero) vaccine, developed using a genome-based reverse-vaccinology approach (12), has received a license from the European Union and has been recommended by the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunization for the routine vaccination of infants in the United Kingdom since 2014. The vaccine consists of the factor H binding protein (fHbp, fused to GNA2091 carrier protein), neisserial heparin binding protein (NHBA, fused to GNA1030 carrier protein), and an adhesin, NadA, mixed with the Men...

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confidence: 99%

Recombinant Protein Truncation Strategy for Inducing Bactericidal Antibodies to the Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator Protein of Neisseria meningitidis and Circumventing Potential Cross-Reactivity with Human FK506-Binding Proteins

et al. 2015

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“…Today, the overall mortality rate of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is 10 to 15% (4). The incidence of IMD is highest in infants, and a second peak is observed among adolescents and young adults (4,5). Case fatality rates are also highest in infants and young children, although case fatality rates up to 25% have been recorded in adolescents and young adults 15 to 24 years of age (6).…”

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confidence: 99%

Meningococcal Polysaccharide A O -Acetylation Levels Do Not Impact the Immunogenicity of the Quadrivalent Meningococcal Tetanus Toxoid Conjugate Vaccine: Results from a Randomized, Controlled Phase III Study of Healthy Adults Aged 18 to 25 Years

Lupisan

Limkittikul

Sosa³

et al. 2013

Clin Vaccine Immunol

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(ACWY-B) (92% O-acetylation), or Men-PS (82% O-acetylation).Immunogenicity was evaluated in terms of serum bactericidal activity using rabbit complement (i.e., rabbit serum bactericidal activity [rSBA]). Solicited symptoms, unsolicited adverse events (AEs), and serious AEs (SAEs) were recorded. The immunogenicities, in terms of rSBA geometric mean titers, were comparable for both lots of MenACWY-TT. The vaccine response rates across the serogroups were 79.1 to 97.0% in the two ACWY groups and 73.7 to 94.1% in the Men-PS group. All subjects achieved rSBA titers of >1:8 for all serogroups. All subjects in the two ACWY groups and 99.5 to 100% in the Men-PS group achieved rSBA titers of >1:128. Pain was the most common solicited local symptom and was reported more frequently in the ACWY group (53.9 to 54.7%) than in the Men-PS group (36.8%). The most common solicited general symptoms were fatigue and headache, which were reported by 28.6 to 30.3% and 26.9 to 31.0% of subjects, respectively. Two subjects reported SAEs; one SAE was considered to be related to vaccination (blighted ovum; ACWY-B group). The level of serogroup A PS O-acetylation did not affect vaccine immunogenicity. Men-ACWY-TT (lot A) was not inferior to Men-PS in terms of vaccine response and was well tolerated.

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“…N eisseria meningitidis is a leading cause of meningitis and fulminant septicemia and is a significant public health problem, affecting mainly children and young adults. The annual number of invasive disease cases worldwide is estimated to be at least 1.2 million, with 135,000 deaths related to invasive meningococcal disease (1,2). Meningococci are classified into 12 serogroups on the basis of the structure of the polysaccharide capsule; the majority of invasive meningococcal infections are caused by serogroups A, B, C, W, Y, and X (3).…”

Section: Importancementioning

confidence: 99%

HexR Controls Glucose-Responsive Genes and Central Carbon Metabolism in Neisseria meningitidis

Antunes¹,

Golfieri²,

Ferlicca³

et al. 2016

J Bacteriol

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Neisseria meningitidis, an exclusively human pathogen and the leading cause of bacterial meningitis, must adapt to different host niches during human infection. N. meningitidis can utilize a restricted range of carbon sources, including lactate, glucose, and pyruvate, whose concentrations vary in host niches. Microarray analysis of N. meningitidis grown in a chemically defined medium in the presence or absence of glucose allowed us to identify genes regulated by carbon source availability. Most such genes are implicated in energy metabolism and transport, and some are implicated in virulence. In particular, genes involved in glucose catabolism were upregulated, whereas genes involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle were downregulated. Several genes encoding surface-exposed proteins, including the MafA adhesins and Neisseria surface protein A, were upregulated in the presence of glucose. Our microarray analysis led to the identification of a glucose-responsive hexR-like transcriptional regulator that controls genes of the central carbon metabolism of N. meningitidis in response to glucose. We characterized the HexR regulon and showed that the hexR gene is accountable for some of the glucose-responsive regulation; in vitro assays with the purified protein showed that HexR binds to the promoters of the central metabolic operons of the bacterium. Based on DNA sequence alignment of the target sites, we propose a 17-bp pseudopalindromic consensus HexR binding motif. Furthermore, N. meningitidis strains lacking hexR expression were deficient in establishing successful bacteremia in an infant rat model of infection, indicating the importance of this regulator for the survival of this pathogen in vivo. IMPORTANCENeisseria meningitidis grows on a limited range of nutrients during infection. We analyzed the gene expression of N. meningitidis in response to glucose, the main energy source available in human blood, and we found that glucose regulates many genes implicated in energy metabolism and nutrient transport, as well as some implicated in virulence. We identified and characterized a transcriptional regulator (HexR) that controls metabolic genes of N. meningitidis in response to glucose. We generated a mutant lacking HexR and found that the mutant was impaired in causing systemic infection in animal models. Since N. meningitidis lacks known bacterial regulators of energy metabolism, our findings suggest that HexR plays a major role in its biology by regulating metabolism in response to environmental signals.

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Neisseria meningitidis: Biology, Microbiology, and Epidemiology

Cited by 332 publications

References 130 publications

Recombinant Protein Truncation Strategy for Inducing Bactericidal Antibodies to the Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator Protein of Neisseria meningitidis and Circumventing Potential Cross-Reactivity with Human FK506-Binding Proteins

Recombinant Protein Truncation Strategy for Inducing Bactericidal Antibodies to the Macrophage Infectivity Potentiator Protein of Neisseria meningitidis and Circumventing Potential Cross-Reactivity with Human FK506-Binding Proteins

Meningococcal Polysaccharide A O -Acetylation Levels Do Not Impact the Immunogenicity of the Quadrivalent Meningococcal Tetanus Toxoid Conjugate Vaccine: Results from a Randomized, Controlled Phase III Study of Healthy Adults Aged 18 to 25 Years

HexR Controls Glucose-Responsive Genes and Central Carbon Metabolism in Neisseria meningitidis

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