Identification of antigens specific to non-tuberculous mycobacteria: the Mce family of proteins as a target of T cell immune responses.

ABSTRACT: The lack of an effective TB vaccine hinders current efforts in combating the TB pandemic. One theory as to why BCG is less protective in tropical countries is that exposure to non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) reduces BCG efficacy. There are currently several new TB vaccines in clinical trials, and NTM exposure may also be relevant in this context. NTM exposure cannot be accurately evaluated in the absence of specific antigens; those which are known to be present in NTM and absent from M. tuberculosis and BCG. We therefore used a bioinformatic pipeline to define proteins which are present in common NTM and absent from the M. tuberculosis complex, using protein BLAST, TBLASTN and a short sequence protein BLAST to ensure the specificity of this process. We then assessed immune responses to

SUBMITTER: Checkley AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3201954 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature