Mycobacterium tuberculosis components expressed during chronic infection of the lung contribute to long-term control of pulmonary tuberculosis in mice.

ABSTRACT: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide, yet current control strategies, including the existing BCG vaccine, have had little impact on disease control. The tubercle bacillus modifies protein expression to adapt to chronic infection of the host, and this can potentially be exploited to develop novel therapeutics. We identified the gene encoding the first step of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis sulphur assimilation pathway, cysD, as highly induced during chronic infection in the mouse lung, suggesting therapies based on CysD could be used to target infection. Vaccination with the composite vaccine CysVac2, a fusion of CysD and the immunogenic Ag85B of M. tuberculosis, resulted in the generation of multifunctional CD4⁺ T cell

SUBMITTER: Counoupas C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5707878 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature