Zhenhua Dai - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Zhiqiang Liu - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Bingshui Xiu - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Xiqin Yang - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Ping Zhao - Chaoyang District Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, ۲۵ Panjiayuan Huaweili, Beijing ۱۰۰۰۲۹, China
Xuhui Zhang - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Cuimi Duan - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Haiping Que - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Heqiu Zhang - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China
Xiaoyan Feng - Department of Bio-diagnosis, Beijing Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, ۲۷ Taiping Road, Beijing ۱۰۰۸۵۰, China

Objective(s): Detection of circulating Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) antigens is promising in Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. However, not a single antigen marker has been found to be widely expressed in all TB patients. This study is aimed to prepare broadly reactive polyclonal antibodies targeting multiple antigen markers (multi-target antibodies) and evaluate their efficacies in TB diagnosis. Materials and Methods: A fusion gene consisting of ۳۸kD, ESAT۶, and CFP۱۰ was constructed and overexpressed. The fusion polyprotein was used as an immunogen to elicit production of multi-target antibodies. Their reactivities were tested. Then, the multi-target antibodies and three corresponding antibodies elicited by each single antigen (mono-target antibodies) were evaluated with sandwich ELISA for detecting M. tuberculosis antigens. Their diagnostic efficacies for TB were also compared. Results: The polyprotein successfully elicited production of multi-target antibodies targeting ۳۸kD, ESAT۶, and CFP۱۰ as analyzed by Western blotting. When used as coating antibodies, the multi-target antibodies were more efficient in capturing the three antigens than the corresponding mono-target antibodies. By testing clinical serum, the multi-target antibodies demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity for clinical TB diagnosis than all three mono-target antibodies. Conclusion: The multi-target antibodies allowed detecting multiple antigens simultaneously and significantly enhanced TB detection compared to routine mono-target antibodies. Our study may provide a promising strategy for TB diagnosis.

Antibodies, Antigen, Diagnosis, Tuberculosis, ELISA