Towards a Neisseria meningitidis B vaccine : introducing systems biology in process development

Towards a Neisseria meningitidis B vaccine
Neisseria meningitidis is a bacterium that is only found in humans and can cause the diseases meningitis or septicaemia, especially in young children. At the Netherlands Vaccine Institute a vaccine against serogroup B meningococci, which causes about 50% of the disease cases worldwide, is currently being developed. The pathogen itself is the basis of the vaccine. To obtain more insight in the metabolism of meningococci, a mathematical model of metabolism was constructed, using its genome sequence as a starting point and the validity of this metabolic model was checked under different experimental conditions. The gathered knowledge was used to design a synthetic medium for growth of serogroup B meningococci and for the development of a cultivation process. In addition, the research has led to the realization of equipment in which bulk production of serogroup B meningococci is possible, which brings a publically available vaccine a step closer.