Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C capsular polysaccharide–protein conjugate (MenC conjugate)

Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C capsular polysaccharide–protein conjugate is a vaccine antigen designed to elicit a protective immune response against serogroup C meningococcal disease. The capsular polysaccharide of Neisseria meningitidis is a critical virulence factor that enables the bacterium to survive in the bloodstream by resisting phagocytosis (WHO, 2023). In its unconjugated form, this polysaccharide is a T-cell independent antigen, which is poorly immunogenic in children under two years of age and fails to induce immunological memory (StatPearls, 2023). By chemically conjugating the polysaccharide to a carrier protein, such as CRM197 or tetanus toxoid, the antigen is converted into a T-cell dependent form (CDC, 2022). This conjugation allows the immune system to engage T-helper cells, leading to the production of high-affinity IgG antibodies and the establishment of long-term B-cell memory (PubMed, 2021). These vaccines are instrumental in preventing life-threatening conditions such as meningitis and septicemia and have significantly reduced the incidence of serogroup C disease in populations with high vaccine coverage (EMA, 2020).

Other names

Meningococcal group C conjugateMenC-CRM197MenC-TTMeningococcal serogroup C conjugate vaccine antigenMenC conjugate

Induction of T-cell dependent immune response through conjugation of polysaccharide to a protein carrier, facilitating B-cell memory and high-affinity antibody production.