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Infection and Immunity, September 2001, p. 5440-5446, Vol. 69, No. 9
Laboratoire de Microbiologie
Génétique et Moléculaire, INSERM U447, Institut
Pasteur de Lille, F-59019 Lille,1
Aventis-Pasteur, F-69280
Marcy-l'Etoile,2 and Transgène,
F-67082 Strasbourg,3 France
Received 12 April 2001/Returned for modification 11 May
2001/Accepted 18 June 2001
Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B infections are
among the major causes of fulminant septicemia and meningitis,
especially severe in young children, and no broad vaccine is available
yet. Because of poor immunogenicity of the serogroup B capsule, many efforts are now devoted to the identification of protective protein antigens. Among those are PorA and, more recently, transferrin-binding protein B (TbpB). In this study, TbpB of N. meningitidis
was genetically fused to the N-terminal domain of the Bordetella
pertussis filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), and the
fha-tbpB hybrid gene was expressed in B. pertussis either as a plasmid-borne gene or as a
single copy inserted into the chromosome. The hybrid protein was
efficiently secreted by the recombinant strains, despite its large
size, and was recognized by both anti-FHA and anti-TbpB antibodies. A
single intranasal administration of recombinant virulent or
pertussis-toxin-deficient, attenuated B. pertussis to
mice resulted in the production of antigen-specific systemic
immunoglobulin G (IgG), as well as local IgG and IgA. The anti-TbpB
serum antibodies were of the IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b isotypes and were
found to express complement-mediated bactericidal activity against
N. meningitidis. These observations indicate that
recombinant B. pertussis may be a promising vector for
the development of a mucosal vaccine against serogroup B meningococci.
0019-9567/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.69.9.5440-5446.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Production of Neisseria meningitidis
Transferrin-Binding Protein B by Recombinant
Bordetella pertussis

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratoire de
Microbiologie Génétique et Moléculaire, INSERM U447,
Institut Pasteur de Lille, 1 rue du Prof. Calmette, F-59019 Lille
Cedex, France. Phone: (33) 3.20.87.11.51. Fax: (33) 3.20.87.11.58. E-mail: camille.locht{at}pasteur-lille.fr.
Present address: Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, School of
Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8022.
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