Comparison of conjugates composed of lipopolysaccharide from Shigella flexneri type 2a detoxified by two methods and bound to tetanus toxoid

Shigella flexneri type 2a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was detoxified with acetic acid (O-SP) or with hydrazine (DeALPS). DeALPS, but not O-SP, retained part of its lipid A. Both gave an identical line of precipitation with typing antiserum by double immunodiffusion, and both had low levels of LPS activity by the Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay. O-SP had an M(r) of ~17,000. DeALPS had two components of M(r)s ~30,00 (major) and ~10,000 (minor). Adipic acid hydrazide derivatives of O-SP and DeALPS were conjugated to tetanus toxoid (TT), purified by gel filtration through CL-6B Sepharose, and designated O- SP-TT and DeALPS-TT, respectively. Saccharide (2.5 μg) as O-SP, DeALPS, or their conjugates was injected subcutaneously into 5-week-old mice three times 2 weeks apart. The mice were bled before the second injection and 7 days after the second and third. O-SP alone did not elicit immunoglobulin M (IgM) or IgG LPS antibodies. DeALPS elicited low levels of IgM LPS antibodies after the third injection only. Two of three lots of O-SP-TT induced significant levels of IgM LPS antibodies after the third injection. One O-SP-TT lot elicited IgG LPS antibodies after the second injection, and all three lots elicited significant levels of IgG after the third. DeALPS-TT induced low levels of anti-LPS IgM and IgG only after the third injection. The geometric mean antibody titers of both immunoglobulin classes induced by O-SP-TT were higher than those induced by DeALPS-TT. By these criteria, O-SP provided a more immunogenic saccharide than DeALPS for S. flexneri type 2a conjugates.