Dockrell H M, Stoker N G, Lee S P, Jackson M, Grant K A, Jouy N F, Lucas S B, Hasan R, Hussain R, McAdam K P
Department of Clinical Sciences, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom.
Infect Immun. 1989 Jul;57(7):1979-83. doi: 10.1128/iai.57.7.1979-1983.1989.
The 18-kilodalton (kDa) antigen of Mycobacterium leprae was expressed as a fusion protein with a 2-kDa leader peptide and used in proliferation assays with peripheral blood cells. Fifty percent of untreated tuberculoid leprosy patients and 93% of long-term leprosy contacts responded to the recombinant protein in lymphocyte transformation tests. Comparison of the stimulation indices in the two groups showed that the contacts responded more strongly than the tuberculoid leprosy patients. Seventy percent of Mycobacterium bovis BCG-vaccinated European donors responded, although with low stimulation indices. The isolation of 18-kDa antigen-responsive T-cell lines from a BCG-vaccinated British donor confirmed that the 18-kDa antigen contains at least one cross-reactive epitope. These results indicate that the 18-kDa protein is an important antigen in the immune response to leprosy.
麻风分枝杆菌的18千道尔顿（kDa）抗原与一个2 kDa的前导肽融合表达为融合蛋白，并用于外周血细胞的增殖试验。50%未经治疗的结核样型麻风患者和93%的长期麻风接触者在淋巴细胞转化试验中对重组蛋白有反应。两组刺激指数的比较表明，接触者的反应比结核样型麻风患者更强。70%接种牛分枝杆菌卡介苗的欧洲供者有反应，尽管刺激指数较低。从一名接种卡介苗的英国供者中分离出对18 kDa抗原反应的T细胞系，证实18 kDa抗原至少含有一个交叉反应表位。这些结果表明，18 kDa蛋白是麻风免疫反应中的一种重要抗原。
