The heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA) is one of the few virulence factors identified for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is a surface-associated adhesin that expresses a number of different activities, including mycobacterial adhesion to nonphagocytic cells and microbial aggregation. Previous evidence indicated that HBHA is likely to form homodimers or homopolymers via a predicted coiled-coil...

RATIONALE Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of death, and the role of T-cell responses to control Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections is well recognized. Patients with latent TB infection develop strong IFN-gamma responses to the protective antigen heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA), whereas patients with active TB do not. OBJECTIVES We investigated the mechanism of this differenc...

conclusions mtb32c and hbha genes were successfully isolated from h37rv genome and cloned into an eukaryotic expression vector. this vector can be considered as a vaccine to evaluate immune responses in animal models. results in the current study, recombinant pcdna3.1 (+) vector containing mtb32c and hbha genes was successfully constructed. the desired size of dna fragment was observed using si...

BACKGROUND The detection of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is a major component of tuberculosis (TB) control strategies. In addition to the tuberculosis skin test (TST), novel blood tests, based on in vitro release of IFN-gamma in response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigens ESAT-6 and CFP-10 (IGRAs), are used for TB diagnosis. However, neither IGRAs nor the TST can separate a...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Development of a new vaccine for tuberculosis requires immunogenic antigens capable of inducing suitable and long-lasting T cell immunity. The emergence of multidrugs and extensively drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis has made it a global public health concern. OBJECTIVES DNA vaccine is a straigh...

BACKGROUND Most individuals infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis develop latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). Some may progress to active disease and would benefit from preventive treatment yet no means currently exists to predict who will reactivate. Here, we provide an approach to stratify LTBI based on IFN-γ responses to two antigens, the recombinant Early-Secreted Antigen Target-6 (rES...

Objective(s): Tuberculosis (TB) has still remained a global health issue. One third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis and the current BCG vaccine has low efficiency; hence, it is necessary to develop a new vaccine against TB. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficiency of a novel DNA vaccine encoding Mtb32C-HBHA antigen in inducing specific immune responses...

Objectives Tuberculosis (TB) has still remained a global health issue. One third of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis and the current BCG vaccine has low efficiency; hence, it is necessary to develop a new vaccine against TB. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficiency of a novel DNA vaccine encoding Mtb32C-HBHA antigen in inducing specific immune responses ag...

Effective activation of dendritic cells (DCs) toward T helper (Th)-1 cell polarization would improve DC-based antitumor immunotherapy, helping promote the development of immunotherapeutic vaccines based on T-cell immunity. To achieve this goal, it is essential to develop effective immune adjuvants that can induce powerful Th1 cell immune responses. The pathogenic organism Mycobacterium tubercul...