Enhanced Patient Serum Immunoreactivity to Recombinant Mycobacterium tuberculosis CFP32 Produced in the Yeast Pichia Pastoris Compared to Escherichia coli and Its Potential for Serodiagnosis of Tuberculosis

摘要

CFP32 is a Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex-restricted secreted protein that was previously reported to be present in a majority of sputum samples from patients with active tuberculosis (TB) and to stimulate serum antibody production. CFP32 (annotated as Rv0577) was therefore considered a good candidate target antigen for the rapid serodiagnosis of TB. However, the maximal sensitivity of CFP32 serorecognition may have been limited in earlier studies because recombinant CFP32 (rCFP32) produced in Escherichia coli was used as the test antibody-capture antigen, a potential shortcoming stemming from differences in bacterial protein posttranslational modifications.