3D structure Analysis of NadA in Neisseria meningitides

Neisseria meningitidisis a human pathogen, which, in spite of antibiotic therapy, is still a major cause of mortality due to sepsis and meningitis. Here we describe NadA, a novel surface antigen of N. meningitidisthat is present in 52 out of 53 strains of hypervirulent lineages electrophoretic types (ET) ET37, ET5, and cluster A4. The gene is absent in the hypervirulentlineageIII, in N. gonorrhoeae and in the commensal species N. lactamica and N. cinerea. The guanine/cytosine content, lower than the chromosome, suggests acquisition by horizontal gene transfer and subsequent limited evolution to generate three well-conserved alleles. NadA has a predicted molecular structure strikingly similar to a novel class of adhesins (YadA and UspA2), forms high molecular weight oligomers, and binds to epithelial cells in vitro supporting the hypothesis that NadA is important for host cell interaction. NadA induces strong bactericidal antibodies and is protective in the infant rat model suggesting that this protein may represent a novel antigen for a vaccine able to control meningococcal disease caused by three hypervirulent lineages.The present study was designed to in silico resolving the major obstacles in the control or in prevention of Neisseria meningitidisinfections. We exploitedbioinformatic tools to better understanding and characterizing the NadA3Dstructure and select appropriate regions as effectiveB cell epitops.

کلیدواژه ها:

N. meningitidis ، vaccine ، NadA ، 3Dstructure