title: Regulation of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis PE/PPE genes.
abstract: The genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis encodes approximately 170 members of the unique mycobacterial PE and PPE gene families. Evidence suggests members of these families are surface-associated cell wall proteins that may provide a diverse antigenic profile and affect immunity. To determine if the expression patterns of PE/PPE genes are consistent with a role in antigenic variability, we analyzed microarray data from 132 experimental conditions for expression of PE/PPE genes. Whole genome expression patterns show that the PE/PPE genes are regulated in a variable and largely independent manner. Gene expression profiling of 15 unique conditions identified differential regulation of 128 of the 169 PE/PPE genes. Expression of the PE/PPE genes appears to be controlled by a variety of independent mechanisms. These data indicate that differential expression of the PE/PPE genes has the potential to provide a dynamic antigenic profile during the course of changing microenvironments within the host.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver 80262, USA. martin.voskuil@uchsc.edu
authors.forename: M I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Voskuil
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schnappinger
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rutherford
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Schoolnik
mesh_terms: D000940:Antigenic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial