title: Neisseria adhesin A variation and revised nomenclature scheme.
abstract: Neisseria adhesin A (NadA), involved in the adhesion and invasion of Neisseria meningitidis into host tissues, is one of the major components of Bexsero, a novel multicomponent vaccine licensed for protection against meningococcal serogroup B in Europe, Australia, and Canada. NadA has been identified in approximately 30% of clinical isolates and in a much lower proportion of carrier isolates. Three protein variants were originally identified in invasive meningococci and named NadA-1, NadA-2, and NadA-3, whereas most carrier isolates either lacked the gene or harbored a different variant, NadA-4. Further analysis of isolates belonging to the sequence type 213 (ST-213) clonal complex identified NadA-5, which was structurally similar to NadA-4, but more distantly related to NadA-1, -2, and -3. At the time of this writing, more than 89 distinct nadA allele sequences and 43 distinct peptides have been described. Here, we present a revised nomenclature system, taking into account the complete data set, which is compatible with previous classification schemes and is expandable. The main features of this new scheme include (i) the grouping of the previously named NadA-2 and NadA-3 variants into a single NadA-2/3 variant, (ii) the grouping of the previously assigned NadA-4 and NadA-5 variants into a single NadA-4/5 variant, (iii) the introduction of an additional variant (NadA-6), and (iv) the classification of the variants into two main groups, named groups I and II. To facilitate querying of the sequences and submission of new allele sequences, the nucleotide and amino acid sequences are available at http://pubmlst.org/neisseria/NadA/.
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bambini
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Chiara
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muzzi
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Marirosa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lucidarme
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brehony
authors.affiliation: Public Health England, Manchester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Ray
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borrow
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Vega
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Masignani
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Comanducci
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Martin C J
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Maiden
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy rino.rappuoli@novartis.com.
authors.forename: Rino
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rappuoli
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariagrazia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pizza
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Keith A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Jolley
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008585:Meningitis, Meningococcal / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D038541:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup B / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: C570015:4CMenB vaccine; D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; C501982:NadA protein, Neisseria meningitidis