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. 2025 Apr 19:53:126953.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2025.126953. Epub 2025 Mar 4.

Identification of immunogenic outer membrane vesicle vaccine antigen components using a meningococcal protein microarray

F Ramirez-Bencomo  1 , A Thistlethwaite  1 , V Viviani  2 , E Bartolini  2 , M Pizza  3 , A Biolchi  2 , A Muzzi  2 , I Delany  2 , A M Awanye  1 , C M Chang  4 , R Borrow  5 , J P Derrick  6
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Free article

Identification of immunogenic outer membrane vesicle vaccine antigen components using a meningococcal protein microarray

F Ramirez-Bencomo et al. Vaccine. .
Free article

Abstract

Outer membrane vesicle (OMV)-based vaccines have been employed worldwide in response to epidemic meningococcal disease outbreaks caused by Neisseria meningitidis. The complex composition of OMVs raises challenges in the identification of antigens which contribute to a protective immune response. Here, we measured total IgG antibody binding profiles to a dedicated antigen microarray using human sera from an open-label Phase II trial (NCT00962624) of 4CMenB (Bexsero), a licensed vaccine containing an OMV component. Significant IgG responses were observed against specific Outer Membrane Proteins (OMPs) from OMV antigens, including FetA, PorB, BamA and PorA. Partial Least Squares Regression was used to correlate IgG antibody reactivity profiles with the human complement-dependent killing of meningococci. We show that this approach is a powerful method to identify the potential contributions of OMV antigens - notably OpcA, FetA, PorA and PorB- towards serum bactericidal activity in human vaccinee serum against indicator strains, a recognised correlate of protection against invasive meningococcal disease.

Keywords: Antigen microarray; Bexsero; Meningococcal disease; Neisseria meningitidis; Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs); Partial least squares regression (PLS); Vaccine antigens.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Jeremy Derrick reports financial support was provided by GSK plc. Fidel Ramirez-Bencomo reports financial support was provided by GSK plc. V. Viviani reports a relationship with GSK plc that includes: employment. A. Biolchi reports a relationship with GSK plc that includes: employment and equity or stocks. A. Muzzi reports a relationship with GSK plc that includes: employment and equity or stocks. E. Bartolini reports a relationship with GSK plc that includes: employment and equity or stocks. I. Delany reports a relationship with GSK plc that includes: employment and equity or stocks. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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