This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Sacchi, C. T.
Right arrow Articles by Mayer, L. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sacchi, C. T.
Right arrow Articles by Mayer, L. W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

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.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Vicente, D., Esnal, O., Michaus, L., Lopez de Goicoechea, M. J., Cisterna, R., Perez-Trallero, E. (2005). Prevalence of genosubtypes (PorA types) of serogroup B invasive meningococcus in the north of Spain from 2000 to 2003. J Med Microbiol 54: 381-384 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Takahashi, H., Kuroki, T., Watanabe, Y., Tanaka, H., Inouye, H., Yamai, S., Watanabe, H. (2004). Characterization of Neisseria meningitidis isolates collected from 1974 to 2003 in Japan by multilocus sequence typing. J Med Microbiol 53: 657-662 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Tsang, R. S. W., Tsai, C. M., Zhu, P., Ringuette, L., Lorange, M., Law, D. K. S. (2004). Phenotypic and Genetic Characterization of a Unique Variant of Serogroup C ET-15 Meningococci (with the Antigenic Formula C:2a:P1.7,1) Causing Invasive Meningococcal Disease in Quebec, Canada. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 1460-1465 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Granoff, D. M., Moe, G. R., Giuliani, M. M., Adu-Bobie, J., Santini, L., Brunelli, B., Piccinetti, F., Zuno-Mitchell, P., Lee, S. S., Neri, P., Bracci, L., Lozzi, L., Rappuoli, R. (2001). A Novel Mimetic Antigen Eliciting Protective Antibody to Neisseria meningitidis. J. Immunol. 167: 6487-6496 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Clarke, S. C., Diggle, M. A., Edwards, G. F. S. (2001). Semiautomation of Multilocus Sequence Typing for the Characterization of Clinical Isolates of Neisseria meningitidis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 3066-3071 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sacchi, C. T., Lemos, A. P. S., Popovic, T., Cassio de Morais, J., Whitney, A. M., Melles, C. E. A., Brondi, L. M. G., Monteiro, L. M. C., Paiva, M. V., Solari, C. A., Mayer, L. W. (2001). Serosubtypes and PorA Types of Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup B Isolated in Brazil during 1997-1998: Overview and Implications for Vaccine Development. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39: 2897-2903 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Tondella, M. L. C., Popovic, T., Rosenstein, N. E., Lake, D. B., Carlone, G. M., Mayer, L. W., Perkins, B. A., The Active Bacterial Core Surveillance Team, (2000). Distribution of Neisseria meningitidis Serogroup B Serosubtypes and Serotypes Circulating in the United States. J. Clin. Microbiol. 38: 3323-3328 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bart, A., Dankert, J., van der Ende, A. (1999). Antigenic Variation of the Class I Outer Membrane Protein in Hyperendemic Neisseria meningitidis Strains in The Netherlands. Infect. Immun. 67: 3842-3846 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Tappero, J. W., Lagos, R., Maldonado Ballesteros, A., Plikaytis, B., Williams, D., Dykes, J., Gheesling, L. L., Carlone, G. M., Hoiby, E. A., Holst, J., Nokleby, H., Rosenqvist, E., Sierra, G., Campa, C., Sotolongo, F., Vega, J., Garcia, J., Herrera, P., Poolman, J. T., Perkins, B. A. (1999). Immunogenicity of 2 Serogroup B Outer-Membrane Protein Meningococcal Vaccines: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Chile. JAMA 281: 1520-1527 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»