Mtb9.9 protein family

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study evaluated the immune response in mice to members of the Mtb9.9 protein family. C57BL/6 mice were immunized with four different Mtb9.9 recombinant proteins to evaluate the humoral and cellular immune responses to each protein. Mouse splenocytes from these mice were stimulated in vitro for 72 h with the Mtb9.9 proteins. Concentrations of the cytokines interferon (IFN)-γ and tumor necrosis α (TNF-α) in the culture supernatants were increased compared with controls. Sera were taken from the same mice at 3 weeks after immunization and contained significantly higher levels of immunoglobulin (Ig)G2c antibody when compared with sera from control mice. Our findings indicate a bias toward T helper (Th)1-type cellular and humoral memory responses against Mtb9.9 recombinant proteins in mice. This study demonstrates that these proteins might be suitable candidates for use as subunit vaccines.

Keywords: :

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Mtb9.9 proteins
• humoral and cellular immune responses

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from National Major Special Projects (2012ZX10003-002, 2009ZX-10004–313, 2008ZX10003-005) and International collaboration on drug and diagnostics innovation of tropical diseases in PR China(International S&T Cooperation 2010DFB73280).