IDENTIFICATION OF T-CELL-ACTIVATING RECOMBINANT ANTIGENS SHARED AMONG 3 CANDIDATE ANTILEPROSY VACCINES, KILLED MYCOBACTERIUM-LEPRAE, MYCOBACTERIUM-BOVIS BCG, AND MYCOBACTERIUM-W

  • 1 June 1988
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 56  (2) , 265-273
Abstract
Antigenic crossreactivity among three candidate antileprosy vaccines, killed Mycobacterium leprae, BCG, and Mycobacterium W, was studied using T-cell lines and clones raised from BCG- and killed-M. leprae-vaccinated subjects. To identify the crossreactive antigens, the T-cell lines and clones were tested aganist Escherichia coli lysates containing 65-,36-,38-,18, and 14- kilodalton (kDa) and 13B3 M. leprae antigens and 65-,19-, and 12-kDa M. tuberculosis antigens. The short-term T-cell lines, which compared to T-cell clones are easy to raise and maintain, were equally effective in identifying the T-cell activating recombinant antigens. The reactivity pattern of the T-cell lines and the clones suggested that 65-KDa M. leprae and M. tuberculosis antigens are present in M. leprae, BCG, and Mycobacterium w; 18-kDa M. leprae and Mycobacterium w, 13B3 M. leprae antigen is possessed by M. leprae and BCG. These and other unidentified T-cell-activating antigens shared among candidate leprosy vaccines may be the basis for induction of in vivo sensitization to M. leprae antigens after vaccination with BCG or Mycobacterium w.