Chemical and antigenic analysis of the cell walls of Neisseria meningitidis group B.

Vedros, Neylan A. (Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Md.), and Paul R. Hill. Chemical and antigenic analysis of the cell walls of Neisseria meningitidis group B. J. Bacteriol. 91:1992-1997. 1966.-Cell walls have been isolated from Neisseria meningitidis group B, by rapid freeze-thawing or treatment with sodium deoxycholate. Chemical analysis of the cell walls indicated that the amino acid composition, and content of hexosamines and of lipids, were similar to those reported for Escherichia coli, except for higher concentrations of alanine, methionine, glutamic acid, and phenylalanine. The meningococcal cell walls showed groupspecificity in the complement-fixation test, were nontoxic for rabbits, and in rabbits produced antibodies which protected mice from challenge with the homologous strain.