Abad R, Alcalá B, Salcedo C, Enríquez R, Uría M J, Diez P, Vázquez J A
Reference Laboratory for Neisseria, National Centre of Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ctra. Majadahonda-Pozuelo Km2, 28220, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2006 Oct;13(10):1087-91. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00211-06.
Variations in class 2/3 (PorB) proteins form the basis for meningococcal serotyping. Antibodies against these proteins are bactericidal, making serotyping results useful not only for epidemiological surveillance of meningococcal disease but also for identifying potential vaccine components. A total of 20 to 60% of meningococcal B and C isolates from any given population are nontypeable (NT) using a panel of monoclonal antibodies. To analyze the mechanisms responsible for the nonserotypeability characteristic in Neisseria meningitidis, we (i) established the nucleotide sequences of porB gene in 146 meningococcal strains (95 not recognized by the serotyping panel), (ii) identified 18 new allelic variants of the porB gene, (iii) correlated allelic variants with serotypes, (iv) suggest the nontypeability characteristic in those 95 NT strains, and (v) reject the possibility of variation in the levels of PorB expression.
2/3类（PorB）蛋白的变异构成了脑膜炎球菌血清分型的基础。针对这些蛋白的抗体具有杀菌作用，这使得血清分型结果不仅有助于脑膜炎球菌病的流行病学监测，还能用于识别潜在的疫苗成分。使用一组单克隆抗体时，来自任何特定人群的20%至60%的B型和C型脑膜炎球菌分离株无法分型（NT）。为了分析脑膜炎奈瑟菌不可分型特性的机制，我们（i）确定了146株脑膜炎球菌菌株（95株不被血清分型专家组识别）中porB基因的核苷酸序列，（ii）鉴定了porB基因的18个新等位基因变体，（iii）将等位基因变体与血清型相关联，（iv）分析了这95株NT菌株的不可分型特性，以及（v）排除了PorB表达水平存在差异的可能性。
