title: Bactericidal and cross-protective activities of a monoclonal antibody directed against Neisseria meningitidis NspA outer membrane protein.
abstract: The cross-bactericidal and cross-protective activities of a monoclonal antibody (MAb) named Me-7, which is directed against an antigenically highly conserved epitope on the meningococcal NspA protein, were studied. This MAb efficiently killed in vitro, in the presence of rabbit or human serum, 13 of 14 meningococcal strains tested, including 9 of 9, 2 of 3, and 2 of 2 strains of serotypes B, A, and C, respectively. MAb Me-7 also significantly reduced by more than 75% the levels of bacteremia recorded for mice challenged with 10 of 11 meningococcal strains tested. Analysis of the predicted amino acid sequence of the NspA protein from the meningococcal strain MCH88 (A:4:P1.10), which was not killed by MAb Me-7, indicated the presence of an additional glutamine residue at position 73, compared to the three other NspA sequences. The data presented in this study suggest that antibodies directed against this highly conserved outer membrane protein could protect against meningococcal infections.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche en Vaccinologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec et Université Laval, Ste-Foy, Québec, Canada G1V 4G2.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cadieux
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Plante
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Rioux
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hamel
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Brodeur
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000276:immunology*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011817:Rabbits
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; C105506:NspA protein, Neisseria