Chiron has already used the B-strain genome to identify other vaccine candidates. The researchers scanned the bacterium's genome for signs of genes that encode surface proteins or exported proteins. From about 600 leads, they confirmed a set of novel surface proteins. When the investigators immunized mice with each of them, more than two dozen of the proteins triggered antibodies that killed N. meningitidis . The company will now evaluate whether any of those proteins can provide protection against the B strain in people.
Scientists also hope that they can develop better vaccines for other strains of the bacterium.
Public health officials therefore wait for meningitis outbreaks before they advocate mass immunizations. The genomes should ultimately elucidate the bacterium's biology. Moxon and his coworkers, for example, found a novel way that the B strain acquires iron from a host and unearthed several genes that may help N. meningitidis survive inside cells. From Science News , Vol. All rights reserved.