Identification by Monoclonal Antibody of an Antigen Common to the Pathogenic Neisseria Species

摘要

A hybridoma (2-1-CA2) obtained by fusion of X63-Ag9.653 cells with spleen cells from mice immunized with whole viable meningococci produced monoclonal antibodies which bound to all strains tested of Neisseria meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeas and to about half of the N. lactamica strains, but rarely bound to strains of other Neisseria species. The antigen to which this monoclonal antibody bound was found to have properties similar to the H.8 antigen, tug is was not heat modifiable. It was found to share some properties with the H.8 antigen. The purified antigen was unusual in that it lacked absorbance at 280 nm, suggesting the absence of aromatic amino acids. This conclusion was supported by failure of the antigen to label with 125 I and by the results of amino acid analysis. The monoclonal antibodies were not bactericidal with either rabbit complement or human complement. Western blot analysis revealed the presence of antibodies to this common antigen in convalescent sera from patients with meningococcal disease and post vaccination sera from volunteers vaccinated with meningococcal protein-polysaccharide vaccine. The purification of this antigen, which appears to be the same as the H.8-bind antigen, will permit more detailed immunochemical studies to be performed.