ARTICULOS ORIGINALES

 

Fragmentación del polisacárido de Neisseria meningitidis serogrupo C para su uso en vacunas conjugadas.

 

Size fragmentation of Neisseria meningitidis grupo C polysaccharide for their use in conjugated vaccine.

 

Osmir Cabrera, Carmen R. Soto, Maribel Cuello, Miguel E. Martínez, Juan C. Martínez y Gustavo Sierra.

Instituto Finlay. Centro de Investigación-Producción de Vacunas y Sueros. Ciudad de La Habana, Cuba.
E-Mail:[e-mail]

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RESUMEN

Las infecciones meningocócicas son una causa importante de morbilidad y mortalidad en el mundo. Los
serogrupos B y C son los responsables de la mayoría de los casos reportados en muchos países e incluso en
países desarrollados. Las vacunas meningocócicas que contienen al polisacárido capsular purificado del
meningococo C inducen en adultos protección por la presencia de anticuerpos bactericidas en sueros, pero son
pobremente inmunogénicos en niños pequeños y pueden inducir tolerancia. La inmunogenicidad de los
polisacáridos o sus fragmentos puede ser mejorada por la conjugación a proteínas transportadoras. El objetivo de este estudio fue obtener oligosacáridos C (Os-C) a partir de la depolimerización del polisacárido de Neisseria
meningitidis serogrupo C (Ps-C) por hidrólisis ácida, calor y peryodato de sodio y evaluar la conservación de sus
propiedades antigénicas mediante un ELISA de inhibición. Se determinó la pérdida de grupos O-acetilos, así
como, la talla molecular relativa por filtración en gel y se observaron diferencias significativas entre los OS-C
obtenidos en cada método. Las propiedades antigénicas fueron dependientes del tamaño molecular de los Os-C,
así como de la presencia de los grupos O-acetilos en los oligosacáridos. Los Os-C obtenidos por la hidrólisis ácida mostraron similares propiedades antigénicas a las del polisacárido.

Palabras claves: Neisseria meningitidis, oligosacáridos, hidrólisis.

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ABSTRACT

Meningococcal infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Serogroups B and C strains are responsible for most cases in the developed world. Meningococcal vaccines containing purified serogroup C capsular polysaccharide induce protective serum bactericidal antibodies in adults, but are poorly immunogenic in young children and may induce tolerance. The immunogenicity of polysaccharide or its fragments can be improved by conjugation to a protein carrier. In this study the purified meningococcal C polysaccharide (Ps-C) was depolimerized by acid hydrolysis, heat and sodium peryodate, to obtain oligosaccharides (Os-C) and it was evaluated the integrity of their antigenic properties by inhibition ELISA. The molecular size was determined by gel filtration and the loss of O-acetyl groups was evaluated. Significant differences between the molecular size of the OS-C and the values of O-acetyls were obtained by different depolimerization method. The antigenic properties were dependent on the molecular size and the O-acetyls groups. Oligosaccharides obtained by acid hydrolysis showed the same antigenic properties as PS-C.

Keywords: Neisseria meningitidis, oligosaccharides, hydrolysis.

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