Corrigendum: Activation of M1 Macrophages in Response to Recombinant TB Vaccines With Enhanced Antimycobacterial Activity.

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Activation of M1 Macrophages in Response to Recombinant TB Vaccines With Enhanced Antimycobacterial Activity.

Pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is a difficult-to-eliminate disease. Although the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine against (MTB) has been available for decades, its efficacy is variable and has lessened over time. Furthermore, the BCG vaccine no longer protects against newly emerged Beijing strains which are responsible for many current infections in adults.

Simultaneous detections of genetic fragment and single nucleotide mutation with a three-tiered output for tuberculosis diagnosis.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the major infectious diseases worldwide. The pathogenic bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), continuously evolves strains carrying drug-resistance genes, thus posing a growing challenge to TB prevention and treatment.

Combining molecular typing and spatial pattern analysis to identify areas of high tuberculosis transmission in a moderate-incidence county in Taiwan.

In total, 303 randomly selected clinical Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates from 303 patients (collected January to December 2012) in central Taiwan were examined. The major lineages found were Beijing (N = 114, 37.62%), Haarlem (N = 76, 25.

Lineage-specific SNPs for genotyping of Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

Tuberculosis (TB) is a severe infectious disease worldwide. Genetic variation of the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), determines the outcomes of infection and anti-TB treatment. Until recently, there has been no effective and convenient way for classifying clinical isolates based on the DNA sequences of the divergent lineages of MTB infecting human populations.

Genomics Study of Strains from Different Ethnic Populations in Taiwan.

To better understand the transmission and evolution of (MTB) in Taiwan, six different MTB isolates (representatives of the Beijing ancient sublineage, Beijing modern sublineage, Haarlem, East-African Indian, T1, and Latin-American Mediterranean (LAM)) were characterized and their genomes were sequenced. Discriminating among large sequence polymorphisms (LSPs) that occur once versus those that occur repeatedly in a genomic region may help to elucidate the biological roles of LSPs and to identify the useful phylogenetic relationships. In contrast to our previous LSP-based phylogeny, the sequencing data allowed us to determine actual genetic distances and to define precisely the phylogenetic relationships between the main lineages of the MTB complex.

Genetic diversity of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis East African-Indian family in three tropical Asian countries.

Background: The Beijing lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is the most predominant MTB strain in Asian countries and is spreading worldwide, however, the East African-Indian (EAI) lineage is also particularly prevalent in many tropical Asian countries. The evolutionary relationships among MTB EAI isolates from Taiwan and those of tropical Asian countries remain unknown.

Methods: The EAI strains collected from patients in Taiwan were analyzed using spacer oligonucleotide typing and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number of tandem repeats (MIRU-VNTR) typing, and compared with published profiles from Cambodia and Singapore to investigate potential epidemiological linkages.

Draft Genome Sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Strain W06, a Prevalent Beijing Genotype Isolated in Taiwan.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain W06, analyzed by molecular methods, was classified as a modern Beijing M. tuberculosis strain, the most predominant strain in Taiwan. To our knowledge, this is the first draft genome announcement of a Beijing M.

Recombinant bacille Calmette-Guerin coexpressing Ag85b, CFP10, and interleukin-12 elicits effective protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Background: The tuberculosis (TB) pandemic remains a leading cause of human morbidity and mortality, despite widespread use of the only licensed anti-TB vaccine, bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG). The protective efficacy of BCG in preventing pulmonary TB is highly variable; therefore, an effective new vaccine is urgently required.

Methods: In the present study, we assessed the ability of novel recombinant BCG vaccine (rBCG) against Mycobacterium tuberculosis by using modern immunological methods.

Molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis in Kaohsiung City located at southern Taiwan, 2000-2008.

Background: We present the first comprehensive analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates circulating in southern Taiwan. In this 9-year population-based study, the TB situation in the Kaohsiung region was characterized by genotypic analysis of 421 MTB isolates.

Methods: All 421 isolates of MTB were analyzed by spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR typing.

Distinct modes of transmission of tuberculosis in aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations in Taiwan.

Tuberculosis incidence among aborigines is significantly higher than for Han Chinese in Taiwan, but the extent to which Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strain characteristics contribute to this difference is not well understood. MTB isolates from aborigines and Han Chinese living in eastern and southern Taiwan, the major regions of aborigines, were analyzed by spoligotyping and 24-loci MIRU-VNTR. In eastern Taiwan, 60% of aboriginal patients were ≤20 years old, significantly younger than the non-aboriginal patients there; aborigines were more likely to have clustered MTB isolates than Han Chinese (odds ratio (OR) = 5.

Draft Genome Sequences of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Strains A2 and A4, Isolated from a Relapse Patient in Taiwan.

The recurrence rate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Taiwan is 3%. Here, we present the draft genome sequences of M. tuberculosis strains A2 and A4 from a relapse patient.

Draft Genome Sequence of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolate C2, Belonging to the Latin American-Mediterranean Family.

Tuberculosis remains a major infectious disease in Taiwan. Here we present the draft genome sequence of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis C2 strain, belonging to the Latin American-Mediterranean lineage. The draft genome sequence comprises 4,453,307 bp with a G+C content of 65.

The pattern of cytokine production in vitro induced by ancient and modern Beijing Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains.

It is unclear to what extent the host-responses elicited by Beijing versus non-Beijing strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) contribute to the predominance of modern Beijing strains in Taiwan and some other Asian countries. The purpose of this study was to compare the expression profiles of virulence-related genes in human monocyte-derived macrophages infected in vitro with Beijing (ancient and modern strains) and non-Beijing strains (EAI strains) of MTB that are epidemic in Taiwan. We found that modern Beijing strains induced lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, whereas EAI strains induced higher levels.

Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in aboriginal peoples of Taiwan, 2006-2011.

Previous research revealed a 6-fold higher incidence of tuberculosis (TB) amongst aborigines compared to Han Chinese in Taiwan. To investigate the reasons for this disparity, we genotyped Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains obtained from members of different aboriginal tribes in different geographical regions of Taiwan by using molecular methods. In total, 177 isolates of MTB collected from patients at four hospitals in Taiwan from January 2006 to December 2011 were analysed by spoligotyping, mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing.

Clonal expansion of both modern and ancient genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in southern Taiwan.

We present the first comprehensive analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates circulating in the Kaohsiung region of southern Taiwan. The major spoligotypes found in the 224 isolates studied were Beijing lineages (n = 97; 43.3%), EAI lineages (n = 72; 32.

Genetic diversity of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Beijing family based on SNP and VNTR typing profiles in Asian countries.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) Beijing strain is highly virulent, drug resistant, and endemic over Asia. To explore the genetic diversity of this family in several different regions of eastern Asia, 338 Beijing strains collected in Taiwan (Republic of China) were analyzed by mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit-variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing and compared with published MIRU-VNTR profiles and by the Hunter-Gaston diversity index (HGDI) of Beijing strains from Japan and South Korea. The results revealed that VNTR2163b (HGDI>0.

Recombinant BCG coexpressing Ag85B, CFP10, and interleukin-12 induces multifunctional Th1 and memory T cells in mice.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) continues to be a leading cause of human deaths due to an infectious agent. Current efforts are focused on making better TB vaccines. We describe the generation and immunological characterization of recombinant BCG (rBCG).

Utility and evaluation of new variable-number tandem-repeat systems for genotyping mycobacterial tuberculosis isolates.

We compared mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit (MIRU)-variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) typing to traditional spoligotyping for discriminating Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains. Our 17-loci MIRU-VNTR typing method was found to be superior to spoligotyping for non-Beijing family strains. To extend the method we also established PCR-based rapid genotyping protocols for Beijing, East-African-Indian and U lineages.

Molecular epidemiology and evolutionary genetics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Taipei.

Background: The control of tuberculosis in densely populated cities is complicated by close human-to-human contacts and potential transmission of pathogens from multiple sources. We conducted a molecular epidemiologic analysis of 356 Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates from patients presenting pulmonary tuberculosis in metropolitan Taipei. Classical antibiogram studies and genetic characterization, using mycobacterial interspersed repetitive-unit-variable-number tandem-repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing and spoligotyping, were applied after culture.

Associations of Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes with different ethnic and migratory populations in Taiwan.

The distribution of human Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) genotypes is reportedly associated with geography, ethnicity and population migrations. Three groups of 208 patients with tuberculosis in Taiwan were sampled to test this observation: (1) 41 aborigines of Austronesian ethnicity, who have been inhabiting in Taiwan for more than 500 years; (2) 58 veterans of Han Chinese origin, who moved as the first generation from Mainland China to Taiwan 55-60 years ago; and (3) 109 patients representing the general Taiwanese population of Han Chinese whose ancestors migrated to Taiwan around 200-400 years ago. A total of 208 MTB isolates, one per patient, were analyzed by spoligotyping and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit (MIRU) typing.