Deciphering the Immunoproteome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Pursuit of a Vaccine

The adaptive immune response against Mycobacterium tuberculosis is incompletely understood. A better comprehension of host immunity might contribute significantly to the development of an efficacious tuberculosis vaccine. Intensive research has characterized the basic components of protective immunity, such as the requirement for robust CD4 T cell responses. In recent years, important work has been published defining the antigenic targets of human M. tuberculosis–specific T and B cells, including the interrogation of the M. tuberculosis proteome by employing peptide libraries and protein microarrays to identify hitherto unknown antigens. Findings from these studies show that human immune responses during M. tuberculosis infection are narrowly focused against a few antigens that are enriched for secreted proteins. In this review we summarize the current knowledge on the M. tuberculosis immunoproteome, covering its composition as well as the methods of discovery. The identity and features of the antigens that typically dominate immune responses against M. tuberculosis are discussed, as are the implications of work in this area for tuberculosis vaccine design.