About the Authors

Arianna Marini

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Current address: Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Affiliations Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medicine and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Omar Rossi

Roles Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Current address: Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Affiliation GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Maria Grazia Aruta

Roles Investigation, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Francesca Micoli

Roles Investigation, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Simona Rondini

Roles Investigation, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Serafina Guadagnuolo

Roles Methodology, Resources, Writing – review & editing

Current address: Policlinico Universitario Sant'Orsola Malpighi, Bologna, Italy

Affiliation GSK Vaccines, Siena, Italy

Isabel Delany

Roles Methodology, Software, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation GSK Vaccines, Siena, Italy

Ian R. Henderson

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Institute of Microbiology and Infection, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Adam F. Cunningham

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medicine and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

Allan Saul

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Methodology, Project administration, Software, Visualization, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Calman A. MacLennan

Roles Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft

Current address: Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

Affiliations Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, College of Medicine and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Oliver Koeberling

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

oliver.x.koeberling@gsk.com

Affiliation GSK Vaccines Institute for Global Health (GVGH), Siena, Italy

Competing Interests

This work was sponsored by the University of Birmingham. AM, AC, IH, and CM were beneficiaries of grant funding from European Union’s European Industrial Doctorate Programme, VADER (Vaccine Design and Immune Responses) [FP7/2007-2013]. ID, OK, CM, FM, SR, and AS were employees of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Srl at the time of the study. Following the acquisition of Novartis Vaccines by the GSK group of companies in March, 2015, MA, ID, OK, FM, SR, AS are now employees of the GSK group of companies. AM was PhD Student at the University of Birmingham, SG at the University of Bologna, OR and MA at the University of Naples at the time of the studies, and supervised by Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics. AS and ID report ownership of GSK shares and/or restricted GSK shares. SG and ID are listed as inventors on patents owned by the GSK group of companies. GSK has filed patent applications in Europe (EP 13703562.2) and the United States (US 14/375222) entitled “Promoters For Increased Protein Expression in Meningococcus”. The patent applications have claims directed to specific promoter sequences for increasing expression of outer membrane proteins, including fHbp. Material including modified bacterial strains and NOMV over-expressing fHbp disclosed in our manuscript entitled “Contribution of Factor H-Binding Protein Sequence to the Cross- Reactivity of Meningococcal Native Outer Membrane Vesicles (NOMV) with Over- Expressed fHbp v.1 Peptides” can be obtained and used without restriction for research purposes by implementing the teachings of the published patent specifications and/or the manuscript. Data and materials described in the manuscript may be provided to third parties for research purposes subject to GSK’s policies and guidelines, which are available upon request. Unauthorized use of bacterial strains incorporating GSK’s proprietary promoter sequences for commercial purposes would constitute patent infringement. Licenses for commercial use of patented promoter sequences may be granted by GSK, subject to negotiation. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.