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Infection and Immunity, November 2001, p. 7130-7139, Vol. 69, No. 11
Laboratoire de Génétique et
Physiologie du Développement, IBDM, CNRS/INSERM/Université
de la Méditérranée/AP de Marseille, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9,1 and Aventis Pasteur,
69280 Marcy l'Etoile,2 France
Received 28 June 2001/Returned for modification 31 July
2001/Accepted 15 August 2001
The capsular polysaccharide of group B
Neisseria meningitidis is composed
of a linear homopolymer of
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.11.7130-7139.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Activity and Cross-Reactivity of Antibodies Induced
in Mice by Immunization with a Group B Meningococcal
Conjugate
(2-8) N-acetyl neuraminic acid or polysialic acid (PSA) that is also carried by isoforms of the
mammalian neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), which is especially
expressed on brain cells during development. Here we analyzed
the ability of antibodies induced by the candidate vaccine N-propionyl polysaccharide tetanus toxoid conjugate to
recognize PSA-NCAM. We hyperimmunized mice to produce a pool of
antisera and a series of immunoglobulin G monoclonal antibodies and
evaluated their self-reactivity profile by using a battery of tests
(immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence detection
on live cells and human tissue sections) chosen for their sensitivity
and specificity to detect PSA-NCAM in various environments. We also
searched for the effects of the vaccine-induced antibodies in two
functional assays involving cell lysis or cell migration. Although they
were highly bactericidal, all the antibodies tested showed very low or
no recognition of PSA-NCAM, in contrast to PSA-specific
monoclonal antibodies used as controls. Different patterns of
cross-reactions were revealed by the tests used, likely due to
affinity and specificity differences among the populations of
induced antibodies. Furthermore, neither cell lysis nor
perturbation of migration was observed in the presence of the tested
antibodies. Importantly, we showed that whereas enzymatic removal of
PSA groups from the surfaces of live cells perturbed their migration,
blocking them with PSA-specific antibodies was not functionally
detrimental. Taken together, our data indicated that this candidate
vaccine induced antibodies that could not demonstrate an
immunopathologic effect.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de
Génétique et Physiologie du Développement, IBDM, Parc
Scientifique de Luminy, Case 907, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.
Phone: 33 491 26 97 47. Fax: 33 491 26 97 48. E-mail:
rougon{at}ibdm.univ-mrs.fr.
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