The Purification and Immunogenicity of TB-14 Recombinant Protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Song, Ho Yeon; Kim, Young Hee; Kim, Chang Hwan; Min, Young Ki; Kim, Dae Joong; Ko, Kwang Kjune

doi:2006.61.3.239

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 61(3); 2006 > Article

Original Article

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2006;61(3):239-247.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2006.61.3.239 Published online September 1, 2006.

The Purification and Immunogenicity of TB-14 Recombinant Protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Ho Yeon Song, Young Hee Kim, Chang Hwan Kim, Young Ki Min, Dae Joong Kim, Kwang Kjune Ko

¹Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea. songmic@sch.ac.kr
²Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea.
³Department of Pathology, Cheongju St. Mary Hospital, Cheongju City, Chungbuk, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Culture filtrate proteins secreted by mycobacteria are thought to play an important role in inducing protective immunity and to develop new methods for diagnosing tuberculosis. METHODS: A culture filtrate protein of M. avium that was strongly reactive with goat antiserum against M. intracellulare was constructed. Its homologous protein (TB-14) in M. tuberculosis was cloned, expressed and purified. The inductions of IFN-gamma stimulated with 10 microgram of TB-14 recombinant protein and 10 microgram PPD were estimated by using whole bloods from seven PPD (-) subjects, seven PPD (+) healthy volunteers and nine tuberculosis patients. RESULTS: M. avium culture filtrate protein was confirmed as a hypothetical protein that was termed contig 116. A novel 14-kDa recombinant protein (TB-14) of M. tuberculosis was composed of 148 amino acids, including 30 amino acids of the signal peptide, and it showed 78% homology with M. avium. In the PPD (+) healthy volunteers, recombinant TB-14 protein strongly induced the secretion of IFN-gamma in whole blood cultures. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that TB-14 recombinant protein might play an important role in inducing cell-mediated immunity against tuberculosis. Furthermore, TB-14 protein antigen and its antiserum will be available for the development of new diagnostic tools for tuberculosis.

Key Words: Tuberculosis, TB-14 recombinant protein, IFN-gamma