BACKGROUND The 10-kDa culture filtrate protein (CFP10) and 6-kDa early-secreted target antigen (ESAT-6) play important roles in mycobacterial virulence and pathogenesis through a 1:1 complex formation (CFP10/ESAT-6 protein, CE protein), which have been used in discriminating TB patients from BCG-vaccinated individuals. The B-cell epitopes of CFP10 and ESAT-6 separately have been analyzed before...

Previous work in our laboratory showed that the ESAT-6 protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis induces strong antibody responses in a large proportion ( approximately 90%) of experimentally or naturally infected nonhuman primates. Here, the antibody response to ESAT-6 in tuberculous monkeys was characterized at the epitope level by measuring antibodies to overlapping, synt...

The early secreted antigenic target 6 kDa protein (ESAT-6) is a potent T-cell protein antigen synthesized by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Its corresponding gene (esat-6) is located in RD1, a 10 kb DNA region deleted in the attenuated tuberculosis vaccine strain Mycobacterium bovis BCG. The promoter region of M. tuberculosis esat-6 was cloned and characterized. A new gene, designated lhp and cotr...

The latest probable scenario in vaccination strategies is to prime one live attenuated vaccine candidate followed by boost dose of second vaccine candidate. In the present study, we primed the mice with a recombinant Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) comprising Ag85B and ESAT-6 followed by boost doses of Ag85B, ESAT-6 and Ag85B-ESAT-6 fusion protein in the DDA adjuvant, separately. After boost dose...

ESAT-6, an abundantly secreted protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) is an important virulence factor, inactivation of which leads to reduced virulence of M. tuberculosis. ESAT-6 alone, or in complex with its chaperone CFP-10 (ESAT-6:CFP-10), is known to modulate host immune responses; however, the detailed mechanisms are not well understood. The structure of ESAT-6 or ESAT-6:...

background and objectives: esat-6 (6-kdaearly secretory antigenic target) and cfp-10 (10-kda culture filtrate protein) have been described as dominant antigens recognized by t-cells and considered as virulence factors in mycobacterium tuberculosis . the aim of this study was to clone, express and purify recombinant esat-6 andcfp-10 proteins of m. tuberculosis in soluble form. materials and meth...

The sequence of the Mycobacterium leprae homologue of ESAT-6 shows only 36% amino acid correspondence to that from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Anti-M. leprae ESAT-6 polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies and T-cell hybridomas reacted only with the homologous protein and allowed identification of the B- and T-cell epitopes. The protein is expressed in M. leprae and appears in the cell wall fractio...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases affecting millions worldwide. The currently available anti-TB drugs and vaccines have proved insufficient to contain this scourge, necessitating an urgent need for identification of novel drug targets and therapeutic strategies. The disruption of crucial protein-protein interactions, especially those that are responsi...

The tuberculin skin test (TST) using purified protein derivative (PPD) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is traditionally used to diagnose latent tuberculosis (TB) infection (LTBI). However, LTBI diagnosis by peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) interferon (IFN)-gamma responses to M. tuberculosis-specific antigens, early secreted antigenic target 6 kDa (ESAT-6) and culture filtrate protein (CFP...