Enoyl-CoA Hydratase and Ag85B of Mycobacterium habana are specifically recognized by antibodies in sera from leprosy patients.

Leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae which is a non-cultivable bacterium. One of the principal goals of leprosy research is to develop serological tests that will allow identification and early treatment of leprosy patients. M. habana is a cultivable non-pathogenic mycobacterium and candidate vaccine for leprosy, and several antigens that cross-react between M. leprae and M. habana have been discovered. The aim of the present study was to extend the identification of cross-reactive antigens in by identifying M. habana proteins that reacted by immunoblotting with antibodies in sera samples from leprosy patients but not with antibodies in sera from tuberculosis patients (TB) or healthy donors (HD). A 28 kDa antigen that specifically reacted with sera from leprosy patients was identified. To further characterize this antigen, protein spots in two dimensional (2DE) Western blots were aligned with Coomassie blue-stained gels and analyzed by mass spectrometry. Two proteins were identified: enoyl- coenzyme A hydratase (lipid metabolism) (ML2498) and antigen 85B (Ag85B, mycolyltransferase) (ML2028). These proteins represent promising candidates for the design of a reliable tool for the serodiagnosis of LL cases which is the most frequent form in Mexico.