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Neisseria meningitidis remains a leading cause of bacterial sepsis and meningitis. Complement is a key component of natural immunity against this important human pathogen, which has evolved multiple mechanisms to evade complement-mediated lysis. One approach adopted by the meningococcus is to recruit a human negative regulator of the complement system, factor H (fH), to its surface via a lipoprotein, factor H binding protein (fHbp). Additionally, fHbp is a key antigen in vaccines currently being evaluated in clinical trials. Here we characterize strains of N. meningitidis from several distinct clonal complexes which do not express fHbp; all strains were recovered from patients with disseminated meningococcal disease. We demonstrate that these strains have either a frameshift mutation in the fHbp open reading frame or have entirely lost fHbp and some flanking sequences. No fH binding was detected to other ligands among the fHbp-negative strains. The implications of these findings for meningococcal pathogenesis and prevention are discussed.

Original publication

DOI

10.1128/CVI.00055-11

Type

Journal article

Journal

Clin Vaccine Immunol

Publication Date

06/2011

Volume

18

Pages

1002 - 1014

Keywords

Antigens, Bacterial, Bacterial Proteins, Bacterial Vaccines, Frameshift Mutation, Gene Deletion, Humans, Meningococcal Infections, Neisseria meningitidis, Virulence Factors