Establishment of a human CEACAM1 transgenic mouse model for the study of gonococcal infections

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative microorganism for the sexually transmitted disease (STD) gonorrhea and humans are its only natural host. An animal model would be a useful tool for gonorrhea research, therefore we developed the hCEACAM1 transgenic mice, using an eukaryotic expression vector, pCDPCAM1-GI. This construct was microinjected into the zygotes of C57BL/6 mice and 22 F0 generation transgenic mice were obtained. Four (lines 50, 53, 54, and 59) of the F0 generation were found to carry the transgene by PCR and sequence analysis, respectively. Western blotting and Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting Analysis demonstrated that hCEACAM1 was expressed on the cell membrane of various tissues in the line 53 transgenic mouse. To initiate the disease in the animal model, the F2 or F3 transgenic mice were inoculated with N. gonorrhoeae intravaginally. Compared with normal mice, N. gonorrhoeae can successfully infect and cause inflammation in the transgenic mice. These data suggested the feasibility of using hCEACAM1 transgenic mice as an animal model for gonococcal infections.     

Analysis of Moraxella catarrhalis outer membrane antigens cross-reactive with Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria lactamica

Mouse sera against outer membrane proteins from Moraxella catarrhalis, Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria lactamica, and human sera from both healthy individuals and patients convalescing from meningococcal meningitis were used to identify cross-reactive antigens. Mouse anti-N. meningitidis and anti-N. lactamica sera recognized 77, 62 and 32 kDa outer membrane antigens in M. catarrhalis strains; on the contrary, the meningococcal porin PorB (38-42 kDa) was recognized by one of the two anti-M. catarrhalis sera. Human sera from both healthy individuals and patients convalescing from meningococcal meningitis also showed cross-reactive antibodies against these proteins. The existence of cross-reactive antigens in M. catarrhalis and N. meningitidis (as well as in N. lactamica) could favor the development of natural immunization against both pathogens.     

B群脑膜炎球菌多组分疫苗研究进展

目前获准上市的流脑疫苗主要有A群、A+C群脑膜炎球菌疫苗及A,C,W-135及Y群的四价脑膜炎球菌疫苗,B群脑膜炎球菌疫苗尚未研制成功。近年来,研究人员以疫苗外膜蛋白为基础,应用反向疫苗学技术对B群脑膜炎球菌疫苗进行了大量研究,现重点对B群脑膜炎球菌多组分疫苗的研究进展予以综述。     

脑膜炎球菌疫苗血清学评价的相关研究进展

研究证明,脑膜炎球菌荚膜多糖、多糖蛋白结合物以及外膜蛋白等物质都能够诱导产生抗体,帮助保护机体抵御脑膜炎球菌疾病。阐述了脑膜炎球菌疫苗研制过程中特异性抗体的检测方法以及在疫苗效果评价中的意义,指出在脑膜炎球菌疫苗的效果评价中,抗体含量以及功能性抗体活性的检测是重要指标,为疫苗的市场应用提供了依据。     

Involvement of Neisseria meningitidis Lipoprotein GNA2091 in the Assembly of a Subset of Outer Membrane Proteins

GNA2091 of Neisseria meningitidis is a lipoprotein of unknown function that is included in the novel 4CMenB vaccine. Here, we investigated the biological function and the subcellular localization of the protein. We demonstrate that GNA2091 functions in the assembly of outer membrane proteins (OMPs) because its absence resulted in the accumulation of misassembled OMPs. Cell fractionation and protease accessibility experiments showed that the protein is localized at the periplasmic side of the outer membrane. Pulldown experiments revealed that it is not stably associated with the β-barrel assembly machinery, the previously identified complex for OMP assembly. Thus, GNA2091 constitutes a novel outer membrane-based lipoprotein required for OMP assembly. Furthermore, its location at the inner side of the outer membrane indicates that protective immunity elicited by this antigen cannot be due to bactericidal or opsonic activity of antibodies.     

淋病奈瑟菌对hCD46基因转染COS-1细胞的黏附

为研究hCD46在菌毛介导的淋病奈瑟菌宿主特异性黏附过程中的作用。用连接PCR技术扩增出启动子与cDNA相连的hCD46小基因,并将其置换出pcDNA3.1载体中的CMV启动子,构建成重组真核表达载体pCD46。转染COS-1细胞后用间接免疫荧光法检测到hCD46 cDNA在其自身启动子的指导下可在COS-1细胞膜表面有效表达,Western blotting检测表明表达产物的分子正确,用流式细胞术分选表达hCD46的基因转染细胞COS-1-46。细菌黏附实验显示菌毛阳性淋病奈瑟菌临床分离株对COS-1-46细胞有较强的黏附性。提示hCD46是菌毛介导的淋病奈瑟菌特异性黏附于人黏膜细胞的一种重要受体,hCD46小基因可用于淋病奈瑟菌感染转基因小鼠模型的制备。     

基于基因组序列的脑膜炎奈瑟菌分型方法

[目的]建立并评估1种适宜的脑膜炎奈瑟菌(Neisseria meningitidis,Nm)基因组分子分型方法.[方法]本研究以125株代表性Nm菌株的基因组序列为对象,建立了基于核心基因SNP的基因组分型方法,并与pubMLST网站公布的MLST和cgMLST分型方法进行比较.[结果]基于核心基因SNP的基因组分型...     

B群脑膜炎奈瑟氏球菌铁调蛋白的诱导表达及其性质研究

对２株Ｂ群脑膜炎奈瑟氏球菌的铁调蛋白的表达及其性质作了研究。在流脑半综合培养基中加人铁螯合剂,诱导了铁调蛋白的表达,并比较了三种铁螯合剂的效果。结果表明,ＥＤＤＨＡ是最令人满意的螯合剂。ＥＬＩＳＡ实验证实含有铁调蛋白的外膜蛋白可以增强对小白鼠的免疫原性。Ｗｅｓｔｅｒｎ－ｂｌｏｔ实验证明有两种铁调蛋白是有效的抗原成分,分子量分别在７５ｋＤａ和８５ｋＤａ附近。由分子量来推算,分别应为ＦｅＲＰ－７０及ＴＢＰ２。     

Generation of antiserum to specific epitopes

The ability to prevent disease by immunization with subunit vaccines that incorporate specific epitopes was demonstrated by DiMarchi et al. (1), who used a synthetic peptide to protect cattle against foot-and-mouth disease. However, generation of antibody to peptide antigens is often difficult owing to the small molecular mass and limited chemical complexity. We tested the hypothesis that recombinant DNA and synthetic peptide techniques would make it possible to stimulate vigorous immune responses to specific epitopes of an outer membrane protein ofNeisseria gonorrhoeae. The MtrC AP1 sequence from the invariant mtrC gonococcal lipoprotein was genetically fused to maltose binding protein. The resultant fusion protein was used as the primary immunogen to stimulate MtrC AP1-specific antiserum. To enhance antibody production specific to MtrC AP1, boosting immunizations were performed with synthetic MtrC AP1 sequence contained in a multiple antigenic peptide system immunogen. The MtrC AP1-specific antiserum strongly recognized the MtrC protein on Western blots and appeared to bind native MtrC proteinin situ. The generation of antibody in this fashion provides the technology to produce antibody to defined epitopes of any protein, including those found in the gonococcal outer membrane. The ability of those antibodies to inhibit bacterial growth or to activate complement protein can then be tested.     

Citrinin,ochratoxin A and iron. Possible implications for their biological function and induction of nephropathy

Experiments with Neisseria meningitidis have shown that Fe³⁺ to some extent can reverse the toxicity of ochratoxin A and citrinin, as measured by inhibition zones around impregnated paper discs. Similar phenomena were observed with the less toxic ochratoxin B. Zearalenone also inhibited growth, but its effect was not counteracted by iron. The mycotoxins aflatoxin B₁ and deoxynivalenol did not inhibit bacterial growth at all. Desferal (deferoxamine) also inhibited growth of meningococci, but iron totally abolished this inhibition. The results indicate that ochratoxin A and citrinin interfere with iron metabolism in this organism but that other additional toxic mechanisms are involved as well since a marked growth inhibition by both toxins was also observed in the presence of iron. One function of ochratoxin A and citrinin in nature could consequently be to affect the iron uptake of other competing microorgansms.Since both toxins interfere with iron and both cause nephropathy, a possible connection between these properties and lipid peroxidation is also briefly discussed.Abbreviations DON deoxynivalenol - OA ochratoxin A - OB ochratoxin B