TB antigens in active vs latent infection

Originally published September 14, 2023, updated September 15, 2023


In their effort to help design new diagnostics and vaccines for tuberculosis (TB), Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn and her co-workers performed a proteome-wide screening of TB derived peptides in patients with active TB vs patients with latent infection using an IFNγ and IL-17 Fluorospot assay and Mabtech IRIS


The comparison revealed that patients with active TB recognize different epitopes than otherwise healthy latent infected patients. With this information, the research group developed a peptide pool consisting of epitopes exclusively recognized by participants with active TB, allowing distinguishing patients with active disease from latent infections.


A peptide pool like this will be important for measuring correlates of protection in vaccine development, as well as a great possible tool for novel diagnostic assays.

Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn

Dr. Cecilia Lindestam Arlehamn