meningitidis and its expression in clinical isolates in

A mAb against the NadA protein from Neisseria meningitidis strain 3006 (serosubtype B: 2b: P1.2: P5.2,8) demonstrated strong bactericidal activity against Brazilian epidemic serogroup B strain N44/89 (B: 4,7: P1.19,15: P5.5,7) and a serogroup C strain, IMC 2135 (C: 2a: P1.5,2), but not against another serogroup C strain, N1002/90 (C: 2b: P1.3: P5.8). The immunogenicity of native NadA in an outer-membrane vesicle (OMV) preparation was also tested. Serum from mice immunized with OMV from serogroup B strain N44/89, which contains the NadA protein, showed bactericidal activity against serogroup B and C strains possessing NadA. In dot-blot analysis of 100 serogroup B and 100 serogroup C isolates from Brazilian patients, the mAb to NadA recognized about 60 % of the samples from both serogroups. The molecular mass of the NadA protein from strain N44/89 determined by mass spectrometry was 37 971 Da and the peptide sequences were identical to those of NadA from N. meningitidis strain MC58