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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, November 1998, p. 845-855, Vol. 5, No. 6
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Proposed Standardization of Neisseria meningitidis PorA Variable-Region Typing Nomenclature

Claudio T. Sacchi,1,* Ana P. S. Lemos,1 Mary E. Brandt,2 Anne M. Whitney,2 Carmo E. A. Melles,1 Claude A. Solari,3 Carl E. Frasch,4 and Leonard W. Mayer2

Division of Medical Biology, Bacteriology Department, Adolfo Lutz Institute, São Paulo,1 and Bacteriology Department, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, and Department of Pathology and Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro,3 Brazil; Meningitis and Special Pathogens Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia2; and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Bethesda, Maryland4

Received 22 May 1998/Returned for modification 7 August 1998/Accepted 28 August 1998

Neisseria meningitidis isolates are conventionally classified by serosubtyping, which characterizes the reactivities of the PorA outer membrane protein variable-region (VR) epitopes with monoclonal antibodies (MAbs). A newer method (PorA VR typing) uses predicted amino acid sequences derived from DNA sequence analysis. The resulting classification schemes are not standardized, offering conflicting and sometimes irreconcilable data from the two methods. In this paper, we propose a standardization of the PorA VR typing nomenclature that incorporates serologic information from traditional PorA serosubtyping with molecular data from predicted VR sequences. We performed a comprehensive literature and database search, generating a collection of strains and DNA sequences that reflects the diversity within PorA that exists to date. We have arranged this information in a comprehensive logical model that includes both serosubtype and PorA VR type assignments. Our data demonstrate that the current panel of serosubtype-defining MAbs underestimates PorA VR variability by at least 50%. Our proposal for VR typing is informative because amino acid sequence and serologic information, when serosubtype-defining MAbs are available, can be deduced simultaneously from the PorA VR designation. This scheme will be useful in future classification and applied epidemiologic studies of N. meningitidis, being a systematic way of selecting PorA vaccine candidates and analyzing vaccine coverage and failure.

* Corresponding author. Present address: Meningitis and Special Pathogens Branch, Mailstop D-11, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333. Phone: (404) 639-2822. Fax: (404) 639-4421. E-mail: cls9{at}cdc.gov.

Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, November 1998, p. 845-855, Vol. 5, No. 6
1071-412X/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.