Evidence for Highly Variable, Region-Specific Patterns of T-Cell Epitope Mutations Accumulating in Strains.

Vaccines that confer protection through induction of adaptive T-cell immunity rely on understanding T-cell epitope (TCE) evolution induced by immune escape. This is poorly understood in tuberculosis (TB), an ancient, chronic disease, where CD4 T-cell immunity is of recognized importance. We probed 905 functionally validated, curated human CD4 T cell epitopes in 79 (Mtb) whole genomes from India.