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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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