01503nas a2200229   4500000000100000008004100001260004800042653001200090653002300102653001100125653001200136653002500148653001300173653001500186100001400201700001400215245005200229300001100281490000700292520096000299022001401259       2012                            d  c2012 AprbBlackwell Publishing Ltd.aOxford10aAnimals10aBacterial Proteins10aHumans10aleprosy10aMycobacterium leprae10aProteome10aProteomics1 aParkash O1 aSingh B P00aAdvances in Proteomics of Mycobacterium leprae.  a369-780 v753 a<p>Although Mycobacterium leprae was the first bacterial pathogen identified causing human disease, it remains one of the few that is non-cultivable. Understanding the biology of M. leprae is one of the primary challenges in current leprosy research. Genomics has been extremely valuable, nonetheless, functional proteins are ultimately responsible for controlling most aspects of cellular functions, which in turn could facilitate parasitizing the host. Furthermore, bacterial proteins provide targets for most of the vaccines and immunodiagnostic tools. Better understanding of the proteomics of M. leprae could also help in developing new drugs against M. leprae. During the past nearly 15 years, there have been several developments towards the identification of M. leprae proteins employing contemporary proteomics tools. In this review, we discuss the knowledge gained on the biology and pathogenesis of M. leprae from current proteomic studies.</p>  a1365-3083