Skip to main content

Some NLM-NCBI services and products are experiencing heavy traffic, which may affect performance and availability. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. For assistance, please contact our Help Desk at info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1988 Oct;56(10):2631–2638. doi: 10.1128/iai.56.10.2631-2638.1988

Electromorphic characterization and description of conserved epitopes of the lipooligosaccharides of group A Neisseria meningitidis.

J J Kim 1, R E Mandrell 1, Z Hu 1, M A Westerink 1, J T Poolman 1, J M Griffiss 1
PMCID: PMC259622  PMID: 2458319

Abstract

We studied the lipooligosaccharides (LOS) of 28 group A Neisseria meningitidis of epidemiologically diverse origins to investigate whether each of the LOS serotypes found in serogroup A could be identified physically as well as antigenically. Using a dot blot assay with LOS-specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), we identified four epitopes that were serotype specific. The LOS from strains of each serotype were electromorphically and antigenically distinct when analyzed by silver-stained sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblotting. The LOS of L8 strains contained a 3,600-Mr component that bound the L8 MAb. The LOS of L9 strains contained two major components of 4,500 and 4,200 Mr. They bound the L9 MAb to the larger component. The LOS of L10 strains had a single major component of 4,000 Mr that bound the L10 MAb. The LOS of L11 strains contained a major 3,600-Mr component that could not be distinguished from the 3,600-Mr LOS of L8 strains by SDS-PAGE but that bound the L11 MAb. LOS of group A strains contained a highly conserved epitope in addition to a serotype-specific epitope. This was identified by a MAb that bound to all the strains on dot-blots and to multiple LOS components of various Mrs on immunoblots. We conclude that the LOS which bear the L9, L10, and L11 determinants are physically distinct and can be identified by SDS-PAGE or MAb binding or both. L8 and L11 are both borne on a 3.6-kilodalton LOS and can only be distinguished serologically.

Full text

PDF
2631

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abdillahi H., Poolman J. T. Neisseria meningitidis group B serosubtyping using monoclonal antibodies in whole-cell ELISA. Microb Pathog. 1988 Jan;4(1):27–32. doi: 10.1016/0882-4010(88)90045-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Apicella M. A., Bennett K. M., Hermerath C. A., Roberts D. E. Monoclonal antibody analysis of lipopolysaccharide from Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis. Infect Immun. 1981 Dec;34(3):751–756. doi: 10.1128/iai.34.3.751-756.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Artenstein M. S., Schneider H., Tingley M. D. Meningococcal infections. 1. Prevalence of serogroups causing disease in US Army personnel in 1964-70. Bull World Health Organ. 1971;45(3):275–278. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bertram M. A., Griffiss J. M., Broud D. D. Response to antigenic determinants of Neisseria meningitidis lipopolysaccharide investigated with a new radioactive antigen-binding assay. J Immunol. 1976 Mar;116(3):842–846. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burnette W. N. "Western blotting": electrophoretic transfer of proteins from sodium dodecyl sulfate--polyacrylamide gels to unmodified nitrocellulose and radiographic detection with antibody and radioiodinated protein A. Anal Biochem. 1981 Apr;112(2):195–203. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(81)90281-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Evans J. R., Artenstein M. S., Hunter D. H. Prevalence of meningococcal serogroups and description of three new groups. Am J Epidemiol. 1968 May;87(3):643–646. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120854. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Frasch C. E., Zollinger W. D., Poolman J. T. Serotype antigens of Neisseria meningitidis and a proposed scheme for designation of serotypes. Rev Infect Dis. 1985 Jul-Aug;7(4):504–510. doi: 10.1093/clinids/7.4.504. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Griffiss J. M. Epidemiological value of lipopolysaccharide and heat-modifiable outer-membrane protein serotyping of group-A strains of Neisseria meningitidis. J Med Microbiol. 1982 Aug;15(3):327–330. doi: 10.1099/00222615-15-3-327. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Griffiss J. M., O'Brien J. P., Yamasaki R., Williams G. D., Rice P. A., Schneider H. Physical heterogeneity of neisserial lipooligosaccharides reflects oligosaccharides that differ in apparent molecular weight, chemical composition, and antigenic expression. Infect Immun. 1987 Aug;55(8):1792–1800. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.8.1792-1800.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hitchcock P. J., Brown T. M. Morphological heterogeneity among Salmonella lipopolysaccharide chemotypes in silver-stained polyacrylamide gels. J Bacteriol. 1983 Apr;154(1):269–277. doi: 10.1128/jb.154.1.269-277.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mandrell R. E., Zollinger W. D. Lipopolysaccharide serotyping of Neisseria meningitidis by hemagglutination inhibition. Infect Immun. 1977 May;16(2):471–475. doi: 10.1128/iai.16.2.471-475.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mandrell R., Schneider H., Apicella M., Zollinger W., Rice P. A., Griffiss J. M. Antigenic and physical diversity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae lipooligosaccharides. Infect Immun. 1986 Oct;54(1):63–69. doi: 10.1128/iai.54.1.63-69.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mocca L. F., Frasch C. E. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel typing system for characterization of Neisseria meningitidis isolates. J Clin Microbiol. 1982 Aug;16(2):240–244. doi: 10.1128/jcm.16.2.240-244.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Olyhoek T., Crowe B. A., Achtman M. Clonal population structure of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A isolated from epidemics and pandemics between 1915 and 1983. Rev Infect Dis. 1987 Jul-Aug;9(4):665–692. doi: 10.1093/clinids/9.4.665. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Peltola H. Group A meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine and course of the group A meningococcal epidemic in Finland. Scand J Infect Dis. 1978;10(1):41–44. doi: 10.3109/inf.1978.10.issue-1.09. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Peltola H. Meningococcal disease: still with us. Rev Infect Dis. 1983 Jan-Feb;5(1):71–91. doi: 10.1093/clinids/5.1.71. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Poolman J. T., Lind I., Jónsdóttir K., Frøholm L. O., Jones D. M., Zanen H. C. Meningococcal serotypes and serogroup B disease in north-west Europe. Lancet. 1986 Sep 6;2(8506):555–558. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90123-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Schneider H., Griffiss J. M., Mandrell R. E., Jarvis G. A. Elaboration of a 3.6-kilodalton lipooligosaccharide, antibody against which is absent from human sera, is associated with serum resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Infect Immun. 1985 Dec;50(3):672–677. doi: 10.1128/iai.50.3.672-677.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Schneider H., Hale T. L., Zollinger W. D., Seid R. C., Jr, Hammack C. A., Griffiss J. M. Heterogeneity of molecular size and antigenic expression within lipooligosaccharides of individual strains of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Neisseria meningitidis. Infect Immun. 1984 Sep;45(3):544–549. doi: 10.1128/iai.45.3.544-549.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Sugasawara R. J., Prato C., Sippel J. E. Monoclonal antibodies against Neisseria meningitidis lipopolysaccharide. Infect Immun. 1983 Dec;42(3):863–868. doi: 10.1128/iai.42.3.863-868.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tsai C. M., Frasch C. E. A sensitive silver stain for detecting lipopolysaccharides in polyacrylamide gels. Anal Biochem. 1982 Jan 1;119(1):115–119. doi: 10.1016/0003-2697(82)90673-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Tsai C. M., Mocca L. F., Frasch C. E. Immunotype epitopes of Neisseria meningitidis lipooligosaccharide types 1 through 8. Infect Immun. 1987 Jul;55(7):1652–1656. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.7.1652-1656.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. WHITE L. A., KELLOGG D. S., Jr NEISSERIA GONORRHOEAE IDENTIFICATION IN DIRECT SMEARS BY A FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY-COUNTERSTAIN METHOD. Appl Microbiol. 1965 Mar;13:171–174. doi: 10.1128/am.13.2.171-174.1965. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Zollinger W. D., Mandrell R. E. Importance of complement source in bactericidal activity of human antibody and murine monoclonal antibody to meningococcal group B polysaccharide. Infect Immun. 1983 Apr;40(1):257–264. doi: 10.1128/iai.40.1.257-264.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Zollinger W. D., Mandrell R. E. Outer-membrane protein and lipopolysaccharide serotyping of Neisseria meningitidis by inhibition of a solid-phase radioimmunoassay. Infect Immun. 1977 Nov;18(2):424–433. doi: 10.1128/iai.18.2.424-433.1977. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Zollinger W. D., Mandrell R. E. Type-specific antigens of group A Neisseria meningitidis: lipopolysaccharide and heat-modifiable outer membrane proteins. Infect Immun. 1980 May;28(2):451–458. doi: 10.1128/iai.28.2.451-458.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES