Chemical analysis of major outer membrane proteins of Neisseria meningitidis: comparison of serotypes 2 and 11.

Most of the 15 protein serotypes found in group B Neisseria meningitidis have distinct major outer membrane protein patterns when examined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) by the Weber-Osborn system. Both serotypes 2 and 11 contain major outer membrane proteins with apparent molecular weights of 41,000 and 28,000 (41K and 28K). The 41K and 28K proteins were purified from the prototype strains of these two serotypes (M986 type 2 and M136 type 11) by preparative slab SDS-PAGE and were chemically characterized. No hexosamine was found in the purified 41K and 28K proteins. Although the two 41K proteins had similar amino acid compositions, their mobilities in Laemmli SDS-PAGE and their fragmentation patterns on SDS-PAGE after cyanogen bromide cleavage were different. The two 28K proteins differed in their amino acid composition, mobilities in Laemmli SDS-PAGE, and cyanogen bromide cleavage products. Peptide maps following chymotrypsin digestion of radioiodinated 41K and 28K proteins revealed distinct peptide maps for all four proteins. Comparison of the peptide maps of two 41K or two 28K proteins indicated that most of the unique peptides were hydrophilic, whereas most of the common peptides were hydrophobic. These results indicated that both of the 41K proteins and the 28K proteins from serotypes 2 and 11 were chemically different, although the proteins having the same molecular weights appeared to share common peptides.