Selection and characterization of cyclic peptides that bind to a monoclonal antibody against meningococcal L3,7,9 lipopolysaccharides.

There is still no general vaccine for prevention of disease caused by group-B meningococcal strains. Meningococcal lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) have received attention as potential vaccine candidates, but concerns regarding their safety have been raised. Peptide mimics of LPS epitopes may represent safe alternatives to immunization with LPS. The monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 9-2-L3,7,9 specific for Neisseria meningitidis LPS immunotype L3,7,9 is bactericidal and does not cross-react with human tissue. To explore the possibility of isolating peptide mimics of the epitope recognized by MoAb 9-2-L3,7,9, we have constructed two phage display libraries of six and nine random amino acids flanked by cysteines. Furthermore, we developed a system for the easy exchange of peptide-encoding sequences from the phage-display system to a hepatitis B core (HBc) expression system. Cyclic peptides that specifically bound MoAb 9-2-L3,7,9 at a site overlapping with the LPS-binding site were selected from both libraries. Three out of four tested peptides which reacted with MoAb 9-2-L3,7,9 were successfully presented as fusions to the immunodominant loop of HBc particles expressed in Escherichia coli. However, both peptide conjugates to keyhole limpet haemocyanin and HBc particle fusions failed to give an anti-LPS response in mice.

Roles of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in ocular dominance plasticity in developing visual cortex: re-evaluation.

We have re-examined whether N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors play a specific role in experience-dependent plasticity in kitten visual cortex. A specific antagonist of this glutamate receptor subtype, D,L-2-amino-5-phosphonovaleric acid, was directly and continuously infused into kitten striate cortex for one week concurrently with monocular lid suture. In the hemisphere infused with 50 mM antagonist, we found the usual shift in ocular dominance toward the open eye with only a few binocular cells remaining. The changes were accompanied by an extremely high incidence (38%) of abnormal cells lacking orientation selectivity across different ocular dominance groups. In kitten cortex infused with 10 mM antagonist concurrently with monocular deprivation for a week, recording from a drug-affected region near the infusion centre, we again found the U-shaped ocular dominance distribution with the high incidence of non-selective cells. In antagonist-infused, otherwise normal striate cortex of adult cats, we found that the proportion of binocular cells decreased by one-half in two cellular populations: one recorded during the continuous infusion of 10 mM antagonist under general anaesthesia and paralysis, and the other about two days after stopping the infusion. We also established that in vivo concentrations of chronically infused 10 mM antagonist decreased, not near-exponentially, but linearly with increasing distance from the infusion site. Thus, the effects of a directly and continuously infused, concentrated antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors on receptive-field properties of visuocortical cells are complex. The present findings strongly suggest that the antagonist effects in the developing cortex may be due primarily to blockade of normal synaptic transmission rather than specific disruption of an experience-dependent mechanism underlying ocular dominance plasticity.