evaluation of the eukaryotic expression of mtb32c-hbha fusion gene of mycobacterium tuberculosis in hepatocarcinoma cell line

background and objectives: hbha and mtb32c have been isolated from culture supernatants of mycobacterium tu- berculosis (m. tuberculosis) and mycobacterium bovis (m. bovis) and their immunogenicity previously studies have been confirmed. in this study, capability of constructed vector containing two mycobacterial immunodaminant antigens (mt- b32c-hbha), in producing new chimeric protein under the in-vitro condition was examined. materials and methods: in present study huh7.5 cells was transfected with mtb32c-hbha –pcdna3.1+ recombinant vector using the calcium phosphate method and expression of chimeric protein was assessed by rt-pcr and western blot methods. results: results of rt-pcr and western blot showed expression of 35.5 kd recombinant protein (mtb32c-hbha) in thiscell line. conclusion: the constructed vector can produce two highly immunogenic antigens that fusion of them to gather makes chi- meric antigen with new traits. other attempts are needed to evaluate specific properties of this new antigen such as molecular conformation modeling and immunologic characteristics in future studies.