Cellular immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific antigen culture filtrate protein-10 in south India.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis)-specific culture filtrate protein-10 (CFP-10) is highly recognized by M. tuberculosis infected subjects. In the present study, the proliferative response and IFN-gamma secretion was found for C-terminal peptides of the protein (Cfp6(51-70), Cfp7(61-80), Cfp8(71-90), and Cfp9(81-100)). The alleles HLA DRB1 *04 and HLA DRB1 *10 recognized the C-terminal peptides Cfp7, Cfp8, and Cfp9 in HHC. Cfp6 was predominantly recognized by the alleles HLA DRB1 *03 and HLA DRB1 *15 by PTB. The minimal nonameric epitopes from the C-terminal region were CFP-10(56-64) and CFP-10(76-84). These two peptides deserve attention for inclusion in a vaccine against tuberculosis in this region.