Moraxella catarrhalis is an important cause of respiratory infections in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and of otitis media in children. Outer membrane protein (OMP) G1a is an ϳ29-kDa surface lipoprotein and is a potential vaccine candidate. The gene that encodes OMP G1a was expressed and purified using a novel plasmid vector. [ 3 H]palmitic acid labeling demonstrated that both native and recombinant OMP G1a contain covalently bound palmitic acid. To assess the expression of OMP G1a during human infection, paired sera and sputum supernatants from adults with COPD followed prospectively were studied by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays with recombinant lipidated OMP G1a to detect antibodies made specifically during carriage of M. catarrhalis. Overall, 23% of patients developed either a serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) response (9%) or sputum IgA response (21%) to OMP G1a, following 100 episodes of acquisition and clearance of M. catarrhalis. Patients developed antibody responses at similar rates following episodes of clinical exacerbation compared to asymptomatic colonization. Serum IgG antibodies following natural infection were directed predominantly at OMP G1a epitopes that are not exposed on the bacterial surface. These data show that OMP G1a is expressed during infection of the human respiratory tract and is a target of systemic and mucosal antibodies. These observations indicate that OMP G1a, a highly conserved surface protein, should be evaluated further as a vaccine candidate.Over the past 2 decades, Moraxella catarrhalis has emerged as an important human respiratory pathogen. Acquisition of a new strain of M. catarrhalis is associated with the development of an exacerbation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (43). Indeed, M. catarrhalis is the second most common bacterial cause of exacerbations in adults with COPD after nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (32,38,44). COPD is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States and is projected to rank fifth in the world by 2020 (2,26,28,39). M. catarrhalis is also the third-most-common bacterial cause of otitis media in children after Streptococcus pneumoniae and nontypeable H. influenzae (25). Approximately 25 million episodes of otitis media occur annually in the United States, and $2 billion is spent annually on treatment (25). It is estimated that M. catarrhalis causes 10% to 20% of cases of acute otitis media. Recurrent otitis media in infants and young children affects speech development and cognitive abilities (25, 42). Finally, M. catarrhalis is also a common cause of sinusitis in children and adults (32). Since M. catarrhalis is an important human pathogen for infants and adults with COPD, there is a need for a vaccine. Infants could be immunized to prevent otitis media and adults with COPD could be immunized to prevent exacerbations caused by M. catarrhalis.One approach to vaccine development for gram-negative bacteria has been to use outer membrane proteins (OMPs) as vaccine antigens. Effectiv...