EXPRESSION OF GROUP B NEISSERIA MENINGITIDIS OUTER MEMBRANE (MB3) PROTEIN FROM YEAST AND VACCINES

摘要

The present invention relates, in general, to a method for obtaining the outer membrane protein meningococcal group B porin proteins, in particular MB3, and fusion proteins thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of expressing the outer membrane protein meningococcal group B porin proteins in yeast. The invention also relates to a method of high level expression of the above-mentioned proteins wherein the rate of protein expression is enhanced by substituting a nucleotide sequence for the 5' region of the gene encoding said protein wherein the sequence has been optimized for yeast codon usage. The invention also relates to a vaccine comprising group A meningococcal polysaccharide (GAMP), group B meningococcal polysaccharide (GBMP) and group C meningococcal polysaccharide (GCMP) antigens, together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The invention also relates to a method of inducing an immune response in a mammal, comprising administering the abovementioned vaccine to a mammal in an amount sufficient to induce an immune response.