Identification of novel antigens recognized by serum antibodies in bovine tuberculosis

05 Dec 2017
Lyashchenko KP, Grandison A, Keskinen K, Sikar-Gang A, Lambotte P, Esfandiari J, Ireton GC, Vallur A, Reed SG, Jones G, Vordermeier HM, Stabel JR, Thacker TC, Palmer MV, Waters WR

Bovine tuberculosis (TB), caused by , remains an important zoonotic disease posing a serious threat to livestock and wildlife. The current TB tests relying on cell-mediated and humoral immune responses in cattle have performance limitations. To identify new serodiagnostic markers of bovine TB, we screened a panel of 101 recombinant proteins, including 10 polyepitope fusions, by a multiantigen print immunoassay (MAPIA) with well-characterized serum samples serially collected from cattle with experimental or naturally acquired infection. A novel set of 12 seroreactive antigens was established. Evaluation of selected proteins in the dual-path platform (DPP) assay showed that the highest diagnostic accuracy (∼95%) was achieved with a cocktail of five best-performing antigens, thus demonstrating the potential for development of an improved and more practical serodiagnostic test for bovine TB.