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Pathogens
Special Issues
Cutting-Edge Research on Pathogenic Neisseria
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Cutting-Edge Research on Pathogenic Neisseria

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Bacterial Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 October 2025 | Viewed by 1728

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Rino Rappuoli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
Interests: enetic detoxification; cellular microbiology; reverse vaccinology; pangenome
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Mariagrazia Pizza

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, UK
Interests: vaccines; pathogenesis; neisseria meningitidis; meningococcus; immunity
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The 24th International Pathogenic Neisseria Conference will be held in Florence, Italy on 30th March–4th April, 2025. (https://ipnc2025.com/). IPNC is a biannual scientific meeting that engages basic and translational scientists with interest in two genetically related bacterial pathogens such as Neisseria meningitidis, which causes a devasting diseases such as meningitis and sepsis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, a WHO priority pathogen resistant to most antibiotics which causes more than 80 million of sexually transmitted diseases.

To further advance the research and discovery in this field, we are partnering with Pathogens and launched this Special Issue. We welcome submissions on recent advances in basic, clinical and translational research related to Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae, with a wide range of topics including host responses to infection, bacterial responses and adaptation, clinical disease presentation and evaluation, diagnostics, therapy and prevention through new vaccine development, evaluation and implementation, antimicrobial resistance, epidemiology, population genomics, host-pathogen interactions, molecular physiology, gene regulation and modelling. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to receiving your work.

Prof. Dr. Rino Rappuoli
Prof. Mariagrazia Pizza
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • neisseria meningitidis
  • neisseria gonorrhoeae
  • pathogenic Neisseria
  • infection
  • bacterial responses and adaptation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2874 KB  
Article
A Combination Native Outer Membrane Vesicle (NOVM) Vaccine to Prevent Meningococcal and Gonococcal Disease
by Serena Giuntini, Scarlet W. Tefera, Alejandro Bolanos, Adan Ramos Rivera and Gregory R. Moe
Pathogens 2025, 14(10), 979; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14100979 - 26 Sep 2025
Viewed by 339
Abstract
The increase in the incidence and antibiotic-resistant strains show a need for a broadly protective vaccine to prevent gonorrhea. OMVax has developed a combination vaccine based on native outer membrane vesicles (NOMVs) from two Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) and two Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng) strains. [...] Read more.
The increase in the incidence and antibiotic-resistant strains show a need for a broadly protective vaccine to prevent gonorrhea. OMVax has developed a combination vaccine based on native outer membrane vesicles (NOMVs) from two Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) and two Neisseria gonorrhoeae (Ng) strains. The strains had the acyl transferase LpxL1 knocked out to increase safety, and the reduction-modifiable protein was also knocked out in the Ng strains. Factor H binding protein (FHbp) mutants with reduced Factor H (FH) binding from Subfamilies A and B, respectively, were overexpressed in the Nm strains. The Ng strains individually expressed porin outer membrane protein B 1a (PorB.1a) or PorB.1b. Antibodies elicited by the Nm-Ng NOMV vaccine had SBA with a human complement against diverse Nm and Ng strains grown in the presence of Cytidine-5′-monophospho-N-acetylneuraminic acid (CMP-NANA), had no significant reduction in serum bactericidal activity (SBA) compared to the respective individual vaccines, inhibited the adhesion to human cervical and vaginal cells in five out of six Ng strains tested, and inhibited Nm and Ng colonization in a transgenic mouse model. In conclusion, the Nm-Ng NOMV vaccine has the potential to protect against disease and inhibit colonization by diverse Nm and Ng strains, which may be an advantage for controlling the disease through vaccination, particularly in the adolescent/young adult age group. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cutting-Edge Research on Pathogenic Neisseria)
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11 pages, 605 KB  
Article
A Ten-Year Retrospective Review of Medical Records of Patients Admitted with Meningitis or Encephalitis at Five Hospitals in the United States Highlights the Potential for Under-Ascertainment of Invasive Meningococcal Disease
by Julio Ramirez, Stephen Furmanek, Thomas Chandler, Josue Prado, Lisa R. Harper, Steven Shen, Raffaella Iantomasi, Jessica V. Presa, Mohammad Ali, Jamie Findlow, Jennifer C. Moïsi and Frederick J. Angulo
Pathogens 2025, 14(10), 962; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14100962 - 24 Sep 2025
Viewed by 388
Abstract
Laboratory confirmation of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) relies on detection of Neisseria meningitidis in a biological specimen. Clinical management guidelines for patients presenting with signs and/or symptoms of meningitis and encephalitis emphasize the need for appropriate specimen collection for laboratory testing. To explore [...] Read more.
Laboratory confirmation of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) relies on detection of Neisseria meningitidis in a biological specimen. Clinical management guidelines for patients presenting with signs and/or symptoms of meningitis and encephalitis emphasize the need for appropriate specimen collection for laboratory testing. To explore the potential for IMD under-diagnosis, we reviewed medical records of patients admitted with signs and/or symptoms of meningitis or encephalitis at five hospitals in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2014 to 2023. Among 675 patients admitted with meningitis and/or encephalitis with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures who received antibiotics, 300 (44.4%) received antibiotics before CSF collection. Among 431 with blood cultures who received antibiotics, 133 (30.9%) received antibiotics before blood collection. Among 751 patients with CSF collected, 651 (86.7%) CSF specimens were tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for N. meningitidis detection. No blood specimens were PCR-tested. These findings indicated that current standard-of-care practices may lead to IMD under-diagnosis. Since public health surveillance relies on IMD laboratory diagnosis, these findings highlight the potential for under-ascertained IMD by surveillance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cutting-Edge Research on Pathogenic Neisseria)
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11 pages, 525 KB  
Article
Susceptibility of Neisseria gonorrhoeae to Zoliflodacin and Quinolones in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
by Takashi Yurube, Katsumi Shigemura, Yurino Kobayashi, Taishi Maeda, Nami Nishimura, Ayaka Yamada, Kotoko Kotani, Saki Horii, Hiroyuki Yoshida and Kayo Osawa
Pathogens 2025, 14(8), 831; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14080831 - 21 Aug 2025
Viewed by 691
Abstract
The DNA synthesis inhibitor zoliflodacin (ZFD) is expected to be effective against strains resistant to therapeutic agents for Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection. In addition to ZFD, we investigated the susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae strains to ceftriaxone (CTRX), ciprofloxacin (CPFX), garenoxacin (GRNX), and sitafloxacin (STFX). [...] Read more.
The DNA synthesis inhibitor zoliflodacin (ZFD) is expected to be effective against strains resistant to therapeutic agents for Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection. In addition to ZFD, we investigated the susceptibility of N. gonorrhoeae strains to ceftriaxone (CTRX), ciprofloxacin (CPFX), garenoxacin (GRNX), and sitafloxacin (STFX). Minimum inhibitory concentration values for ZFD and four other drugs were determined for 147 strains of N. gonorrhoeae isolated at medical institutions in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, from 2015 to 2022. Amino acid alterations in gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE were examined by polymerase chain reaction and sequencing analysis. Sequence type (ST) was determined for epidemiological analysis, and N. gonorrhoeae strains were classified. The non-susceptibility rate was not observed in CTRX. The lowest non-susceptibility rate was observed in ZFD (39.5%) compared to CPFX (80.3%), GRNX (83.7%), and STFX (65.3%) (all p < 0.0001). The most common amino acid alterations in gyrA and parC had non-susceptibility rates exceeding 80% to quinolones except ZFD, suggesting that these alterations may have influenced the resistance trend. STs were different between isolates in 2015 and those in 2020 and later. ZFD showed potent antimicrobial activity against N. gonorrhoeae strains that are highly resistant to quinolones. It may become a new option in the treatment of gonococcal infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cutting-Edge Research on Pathogenic Neisseria)
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