Selective identification of new therapeutic targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by IVIAT approach

The in vivo induced antigen technology (IVIAT)(1) has been used for the identification of open reading frames (ORFs) which could be possible therapeutic targets. A recombinant lambdagt11:: Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv expression library was screened with pooled TB patient sera preabsorbed with in vitro grown M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Preabsorption of pooled TB patient sera allowed identification of antigens specifically expressed or upregulated during infection and growth in vivo. Six ORFs were identified, of which four (rv0287, rv2402, rv3878 and rv1045) were of hypothetical functions. Rv0287 is a probable regulatory protein. Rv3878 is present uniquely in M. tuberculosis H37Rv and is a part of RDI deletion region of M. bovis BCG, which includes esat 6 region. This could be exploited as a tool for diagnosis. Two ORFs were assigned function solely on the basis of homology, dnaQ (rv3711c) and lpdA (rv3303c). dnaQ codes for the epsilon subunit of DNA polymerase III, which is responsible for the proofreading activity of the complex. lpdA codes for dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase, which is a part of many multienzyme complexes such as pyruvate dehydrogenase, keto-acid dehydrogenase and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. These two enzymes appear to be potential targets for drug development.