What is this project about?
The aim of the project is to identify proteins present on the surface of meningococcal group B (MenB) bacteria that in the future, may be able to be used in a vaccine to protect against MenB disease. The team have already selected cells that produce antibodies from patients that have had MenB disease. Each of these cells produces only one type of antibody, and some of these antibodies are known to kill MenB in the laboratory. However, we do not know what proteins these “killing” antibodies bind to on the surface of MenB.
These proteins are important to identify as they are potential new vaccine candidates.
Why is this important?
Bexsero is a vaccine which is used routinely in the UK to prevent Meningococcal group B (MenB) disease, and real-world evidence shows the vaccine is providing lasting protection for children, with cases of MenB in young children having reduced by 75% three years after the vaccine programme was introduced. However, despite its use, MenB continues to cause cases of disease (meningitis and septicaemia), particularly in teenagers and young adults. This is because Bexsero is currently only routinely offered to infants in the UK, and it does not protect against all circulating MenB strains or prevent them from being carried in the back of the nose and throat and being transmitted. Therefore, there is a need to develop new vaccines that can provide broader protection against MenB disease.
Potential Outcomes:
In the short term, the results will mean that future work is focussed on investigating whether new MenB vaccine candidates protect against disease. In the long term, it is hoped that the MenB protein or proteins identified become components of successful new generation MenB vaccines.
This project has been funded by The Jessica Bethell Charitable Foundation, in memory of Jessica, who tragically died from MenB in 2012, aged just 24 years.