Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health challenge due to various factors, including delayed diagnoses leading to the spread of infection, limited efficacy of current vaccination strategies, and emergence of drug-resistant strains. Here, we explore the significance of ()-specific antigens to overcome these challenges. A narrative review exploring the dynamics of -specific antigens and the related T cell immune responses across the TB spectrum. A variety of antigens are expressed at different stages of infection, driving its diverse antigenic landscape and associated T cell functional heterogeneity. Recent advances in high-coverage genomic and proteomic approaches may lead to the identification and characterization of antigens/epitopes within the context of TB. Factors such as magnitude of memory response, cytokine profile, immunodominance, and conservation of epitopes should be emphasized as crucial parameters in assessing the potential efficacy of these antigens in diagnostics or vaccine research. Recognizing the antigenic repertoire of changes with the infection stage, it is important to assess the availability of different subsets of antigens across the spectrum of infection for more precise disease classifications. Targeting specific antigens holds promise as a pathway for developing specific immunological biomarkers to predict TB reactivation in populations.

中文翻译：

---

从抗原到免疫反应：塑造结核病检测和预防的未来

由于多种因素，包括延迟诊断导致感染传播、当前疫苗接种策略的功效有限以及耐药菌株的出现，结核病（TB）仍然是全球健康挑战。在这里，我们探讨 () 特异性抗原克服这些挑战的重要性。一篇探索结核病谱系中特定抗原动态和相关 T 细胞免疫反应的叙述性评论。多种抗原在感染的不同阶段表达，从而驱动其多样化的抗原景观和相关的 T 细胞功能异质性。高覆盖率基因组和蛋白质组学方法的最新进展可能会导致结核病背景下抗原/表位的识别和表征。应强调记忆反应强度、细胞因子谱、免疫优势和表位保守等因素，作为评估这些抗原在诊断或疫苗研究中的潜在功效的关键参数。认识到抗原库随感染阶段的变化，评估整个感染范围内不同抗原亚群的可用性对于更精确的疾病分类非常重要。针对特定抗原有望成为开发特定免疫生物标志物以预测人群中结核病重新激活的途径。