Gonorrheal disease affects over 2 million people per year in the U.S. Controlling this epidemic disease at present is a major problem even though treatment with antibiotics is available and effective. Currently no vaccine has been found to be protective against a wide spectrum of gonococci. However, before a good vaccinee can be produced, the biopathological function of each component of this vaccine should be understood. In this manner, eliciting human antibodies which may be potentially advantageous for the gonococcus and not for the human host such as antigonococcal protein III antibodies can be avoided. By knowing which components of the gonococcus is vital for its survival, we can more readily design vaccines to eliminate these functional mechanisms. The basic aims of this proposal is to understand the basic biopathological function of several gonococcal surface proteins i.e. protein I, protein II and protein III. One of the functions of protein III is to elicit human antibodies which protect the gonococcus against the bacteriocidal effects of other antibodies. We will determine how this protein is inserted into the outer membrane and what other roles this protein has which are vital for the organism. We will determine what if any is the functional interaction between protein III and protein I. We will continue our study into both the biological and pathological role of protein I. We will determine which portions of this molecule are important for the various functional characteristics that protein I has. The further study of protein is valuable not only for understanding gonococcal diseases but has become a good reagent for studying the importance of membrane channels in eukaryotic cells. Aggregation of gonococci in clumps of bacteria seems to be important in urethral infections in males and at certain periods of gonococcal infections in females. The so called opacity protein(s) are an important part of this aggregation. We will continue to examine the exact ligand-receptor relationship this protein has with lipooligosaccharides and other components of the gonococcal out membrane. We will also determine if similar ligands exist on human cells.
