The use of specific antiserum induced by lectin-antigen complexes to investigate the outer membrane antigens of Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Extracts of gonococcal surface antigens, examined by crossed affinity electrophoresis (CAE) with wheat germ agglutinin (WGA), yielded a single antigen-lectin precipitate in agarose gels. This precipitate induced in rabbits a potent antiserum specific for the gonococcal antigen which reacted with WGA. Immune electron microscopy on whole gonococci showed that this antiserum reacted with outer membrane vesicles. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) purified by phenol-water extraction of whole gonococci reacted with WGA and also with the antiserum to the WGA-antigen complex. This indicated that the antiserum was specific for antigen(s) of the outer membrane complex.