Isolation of the outer membrane components of Bordetella pertussis which enhance the immunogenicity of Haemophilus influenzae type b capsular polysaccharide polyribosyl ribitol phosphate.

The outer membrane (OM) component(s) from Bordetella pertussis which potentiated the antigenicity of purified Haemophilus influenzae type b capsular polysaccharide, polyribosyl ribitol phosphate (PRP), has been isolated and partially characterized. The OM was isolated from spheroplasting medium by precipitating at pH 5.0; fractionation was carried out by dissolving the crude OM in Triton X-100 followed by selective precipitation of OM in 50% ethanol. Further purification of OM was accomplished by DEAE-Sepharose 6BCL and Sephacryl S-300 chromatography. The biochemical composition and protein profiles on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of various OM preparations have been examined. Combined vaccines consisting of OM components and PRP were given to young Sprague-Dawley rats, and the serum antibody to PRP was measured by an [3H]PRP binding assay. The purified OM containing mainly a 30,000-dalton protein, but not purified lipopolysaccharide or leukocytosis-promoting toxin, exhibited strong enhancement of PRP immunogenicity.