Laboratory of Molecular Structure, National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Blanche Lane, South Mimms, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, UK.
Proteomics Clin Appl. 2007 Sep;1(9):1198-210. doi: 10.1002/prca.200700204. Epub 2007 Aug 17.
Neisseria meningitidis, one of the principal causes of bacterial meningitis and septicemia, continues to present a challenge for vaccine developers. While significant progress has been made in the development and implementation of conjugate vaccines, which are based on the capsular polysaccharide of the organism, this approach has failed to produce a vaccine against organisms expressing a serogroup B capsule. The completion of the first meningococcal genome sequences in 2000 provided new ways of meeting this challenge. One approach has been to learn more about meningococcal biology and pathogenesis through exploring its proteome. This article reviews the results of ten recent studies of the meningococcal proteome and compares the different methodologies employed. Not surprisingly, given the renewed impetus to develop a comprehensive vaccine and the continuing clinical development of outer membrane vesicle vaccines, many of these studies focus on the proteome of the outer membrane fraction. As in other areas of proteome research, the direct comparison of data from different studies is hampered by the lack of standardization of separation technologies and data formats. Nevertheless, proteomic analysis, especially when combined with detailed knowledge of meningococcal population structures, represents a powerful tool in the development of vaccines against this important pathogen.
脑膜炎奈瑟菌是细菌性脑膜炎和败血症的主要病原体之一，仍然是疫苗开发者面临的挑战。虽然在开发和应用基于该生物体荚膜多糖的结合疫苗方面取得了重大进展，但这种方法未能针对表达 B 群荚膜的生物体生产出疫苗。2000 年完成的第一个脑膜炎球菌基因组序列为应对这一挑战提供了新的方法。一种方法是通过探索其蛋白质组来更多地了解脑膜炎球菌的生物学和发病机制。本文综述了最近十项关于脑膜炎球菌蛋白质组的研究结果，并比较了所采用的不同方法。毫不奇怪，鉴于人们重新致力于开发全面的疫苗以及外膜囊泡疫苗的持续临床开发，其中许多研究都集中在外膜部分的蛋白质组上。与蛋白质组研究的其他领域一样，由于缺乏分离技术和数据格式的标准化，不同研究的数据直接比较受到阻碍。然而，蛋白质组学分析，特别是当与对脑膜炎球菌群体结构的详细了解相结合时，代表了针对这种重要病原体开发疫苗的有力工具。
