Conserved hypothetical protein Rv1977 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains contains sequence polymorphisms and might be involved in ongoing immune evasion.
Host immune pressure and associated parasite immune evasion are key features of host-pathogen co-evolution. A previous study showed that human T cell epitopes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are evolutionarily hyperconserved and thus it was deduced that M. tuberculosis lacks antigenic variation and immune evasion. Here, we selected 151 clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from China, amplified gene encoding Rv1977 and compared the sequences. The results showed that Rv1977, a conserved hypothetical protein, is not conserved in M. tuberculosis strains and there are polymorphisms existed in the protein. Some mutations, especially one frameshift mutation, occurred in the antigen Rv1977, which is uncommon in M.tb strains and may lead to the protein function altering. Mutations and deletion in the gene all affect one of three T cell epitopes and the changed T cell epitope contained more than one variable position, which may suggest ongoing immune evasion.
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Beijing 102206, P. R. China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases Hangzhou 310003, China.
Yi
Y
Jiang
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Beijing 102206, P. R. China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases Hangzhou 310003, China.
Haican
H
Liu
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Beijing 102206, P. R. China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases Hangzhou 310003, China.
Xuezhi
X
Wang
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Beijing 102206, P. R. China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases Hangzhou 310003, China.
Guilian
G
Li
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Beijing 102206, P. R. China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases Hangzhou 310003, China.
Yan
Y
Qiu
Beijing Center for Diseases Prevention and Control Beijing 100013, China.
Xiangfeng
X
Dou
State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention Beijing 102206, P. R. China ; Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases Hangzhou 310003, China.
Kanglin
K
Wan
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D016368:Frameshift Mutation; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005838:Genotype; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Rv1977; immune evasion