Expression and regulatory networks of Mycobacterium tuberculosis PE/PPE family antigens.

PE/PPE family antigens are distributed mainly in pathogenic mycobacteria and serve as potential antituberculosis (TB) vaccine components. Some PE/PPE family antigens can regulate the host innate immune response, interfere with macrophage activation and phagolysosome fusion, and serve as major sources of antigenic variation. PE/PPE antigens have been associated with mycobacteria pathogenesis; pe/ppe genes are mainly found in pathogenic mycobacteria and are differentially expressed between Mtb and Mycobacterium bovis. PE/PPE proteins were essential for the growth of Mtb, and PE/PPE proteins were differentially expressed under a variety of conditions. Multiple mycobacterial-virulence-related transcription factors, sigma factors, the global transcriptional regulation factor Lsr2, MprAB, and PhoPR two-component regulatory systems, and cyclic adenine monophosphate-dependent regulators, regulate the expression of PE/PPE family antigens. Multiple-scale integrative analysis revealed the expression and regulatory networks of PE/PPE family antigens underlying the virulence and pathogenesis of Mtb, providing important clues for the discovery of new anti-TB measures.