Patent ID: 7557185

Claim:
An isolated immunogenic, outer membrane protein of the bacteria Branhamella ( Moraxella ) catarrhalis, wherein said outer membrane protein is selected from the group consisting of an isolated, immunogenic Branhamella ( Moraxella ) catarrhalis protein that has an apparent molecular mass of 14, 14.5, 15 or 35 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE wherein said protein is isolatable from said bacteria using an extraction procedure that comprises a zwittergent extract of a broth culture of said bacteria, followed by ion exchange chromatography of said extract on a Q2 column, and one or more preparative gel electrophoresis elutions of said ion exchange column's fractions that contain said immunogenic protein, wherein said one or more preparative gel electrophoresis elutions are performed under conditions that separate the proteins that are being eluted into at least two fractions based on a protein's molecular mass, and selecting the fraction(s) that contain the protein that has the desired molecular mass, (a) wherein mice immunized with said 14 kDa protein and challenged with said bacteria have an enhanced clearance of said bacteria from their lungs as compared to the that of non-immunized mice; (b) wherein mice immunized with said 14.5 kDa protein and challenged with said bacteria have an enhanced clearance of said bacteria in brochoalveolar lavage as compared to that of non-immunized mice; (c) wherein mice immunized with said 15 kDa protein and challenged with said bacteria have an enhanced clearance of said bacteria from both a bronchoalveolar lavage and their lungs as compared to that of non-immunized mice; and (d) wherein said protein with said apparent molecular mass of 35 kDa comprises the following N-terminal sequence: TPTVYGKAFLTIDANNTDXTY (SEQ ID NO:3).