Assessment of cross-reactivity between Mycobacterium bovis and M. kansasii ESAT-6 and CFP-10 at the T-cell epitope level

Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2007 Sep;14(9):1203-9. doi: 10.1128/CVI.00116-07. Epub 2007 Aug 1.

Abstract

Cross-reactivity between Mycobacterium kansasii ESAT-6 and CFP-10 homologues and their M. bovis counterparts can confound the interpretation of immunodiagnostic tests for tuberculosis. M. kansasii is a nontuberculous mycobacterial species cultured from skin test-positive cattle in Great Britain. Using peptides derived from M. bovis and M. kansasii ESAT-6 and CFP-10 regions that differ between these species, we investigated the species specificity and cross-reactivity at the level of individual bovine T-cell epitopes. Our results demonstrated that all peptides tested are fully cross-reactive, with the exception of one ESAT-6-derived peptide that harbored an M. bovis-specific epitope(s) when it was recognized in the context of bovine leukocyte antigen (BoLA)-DQ but that was cross-reactive with its M. kansasii homologues when it was restricted by BoLA-DR. This observation further highlights that prediction of species specificity by comparing sequence identity/homology alone is not sufficient and that individuals with diverse major histocompatibility complex constellations need to be tested to characterize the cross-reactivity or species specificity of peptide-based reagents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / immunology*
  • Birds
  • Cattle
  • Cross Reactions / immunology
  • Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / immunology*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / diagnosis*
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / immunology
  • Mycobacterium bovis / immunology*
  • Mycobacterium bovis / isolation & purification
  • Mycobacterium kansasii / immunology*
  • Mycobacterium kansasii / isolation & purification
  • Species Specificity

Substances

  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • CFP-10 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  • ESAT-6 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  • Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte