IMMUNOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL-CHARACTERIZATION OF PROTEINS OF THE MYCOBACTERIUM-TUBERCULOSIS ANTIGEN-85 COMPLEX USING SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES

As tuberculosis re-emerges as an important health problem worldwide, n ew drugs, better diagnostic tests and vaccines are being sought. In or der to identify potentially useful peptides for the development of a s ynthetic vaccine against tuberculosis, immunological and functional st udies were performed using proteins of the antigen 85 complex. Western blot (immuno-blot) analysis and a lymphoproliferation study was used to investigate the B- and T-cell immune response of tuberculosis patie nts, healthy household contacts and normal controls to proteins of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen 85 complex. Peptides derived from the 85A amino acid sequence were synthesized and used in fibronectin-b inding and in ELISA assays. A peptide with the sequence CQPACRKAGCQTYK WEC bound to radiolabelled fibronectin in a time-dependent manner and was recognized by human sera in ELISA. This peptide was identified as a potential component of a synthetic vaccine against tuberculosis.