Characterization of Immune Responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv2041c Protein

• Published in: Journal of bacteriology and virology Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 183 - 193
• Main Authors: Kim, Su-Young, Shin, A-Rum, Lee, Byung-Soo, Kim, Hwa-Jung, Jeon, Bo Young, Cho, Sang-Nae, Park, Jeong-Kyu, Shin, Sung Jae
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 대한미생물학회 2009
• Subjects: 생물학; T-cell antigen; Vaccine candidate; Immune response; Rv2041c; M. tuberculosis
• DOI: 10.4167/jbv.2009.39.3.183
• ISSN: 1598-2467

Tuberculosis, which is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), is one of the most important infectious diseasesin the world. Although many functional studies have been conducted on M. tb proteins in the post-genomic era, little isknown about the function of many proteins expressed specifically during latency. Previously, we reported that Rv2041cfrom M. tb H37Rv is highly expressed under conditions of low pH and hypoxia, which represent the in vitro mimicry oflatent tuberculosis. In the present study, increased expression levels of Rv2041c under hypoxia and low pH in vitroculture was confirmed by RT-PCR. Interestingly, Rv2041c showed significantly increased expression among genes ofthe same operon and genes belonging to the same functional group. Finally, the immune responses elicited by therecombinant (r) Rv2041c protein were investigated using ex vivo and in vivo models of M. tb infection. A significantlyhigh level of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-12p40 was detected in a dose-dependent mannerby treatment of murine bone marrow-derived macrophages with rRv2041c protein. In addition, IFN-γ and TNF-αsecretion increased after stimulation with purified Rv2041c protein to lymphocytes from latent and active TB mice in amodified Cornell model. In conclusion, our findings suggest that Rv2041c is a new T-cell antigen and could be apotential vaccine candidate against M. tb infection by inducing a strong cellular immune response. KCI Citation Count: 0