Isolation and characterization of a native cell wall complex from Neisseria meningitidis

A cell wall complex has been isolated by gentle methods from both the medium supernatant fluid and whole organisms of Neissieria meningitidis cultures. The two types of preparations have been shown to be essentially identical on the basis of chemical composition, electron microscopy, and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-PAGE). Four major components were identified in the complex: group-specific polysaccharide (4 to 10%), protein (45 to 65%), lipopolysaccharide (10 to 25%), and lipid (15 to 30%). The whole complex was found to be immunogenic in rabbits and to elicit production of antibody directed against the protein, the group-specific polysaccharide, and the lipopolysaccharide components. The isolated protein component was also found to be immunogenic in rabbits and to elicit production of serotype-specific antibody. The protein component was found to produce a band pattern in SDS-PAGE that is simple, reproducible, and strain dependent. The lipopolysaccharide component was found to have chemical and biological properties characteristic of bacterial endotoxin. We propose that this complex is representative of the outer trilaminar membrane of the meningococcal cell envelope in its native state.