Immune responses in TB
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Identifying and evaluating Tuberculosis antigens. A new approach to find new vaccine candidates and novel drug targets
IRAS ID
247676
Contact name
Danai Papakonstantinou
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Keele
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Tuberculosis (TB) is responsible for millions of deaths annually worldwide. The immunology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb)- the causative agent of TB- is complex and we are still unaware what provides protective immunity in TB. The need for an effective vaccine is of the utmost importance since BCG- the only commercially available vaccine- provides limited and variable protection. At the same time multi-drug (MDR) and extensively-drug (XDR) TB are driving the pandemic and we are lacking new, effective anti-tuberculous treatments. Although stopping TB transmission with effective anti- tuberculous treatment is one of the cornerstones of TB control programmes, the discovery of a new globally effective vaccine can be a more sustainable and cost effective strategy. We have hypothesised that subdominant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) antigens could be possible novel vaccine candidates. We have analysed 8535 M.tb genome sequences, representatives of all the M.tb lineages, and we have identified novel peptides, which could be further tested immunologically as potential novel vaccine candidates. We aim to test the immune profile of patients with latent and active TB, as well as healthy controls, against the peptides of interest. Identifying potential differences in the immune pathways associated with different types of the disease, as well as discovering the immune pathway of healthy donors, who have been exposed to M.tb, but did not give a positive Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA) response, may aid the development of new suitable vaccine and drug targets to combat TB.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/SC/0651
Date of REC Opinion
16 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion