Using Phage and Yeast Display to Select Hundreds of Monoclonal Antibodies: Application to Antigen 85, a Tuberculosis Biomarker

Abstract

Background: Current diagnostic methods for tuberculosis (TB), a major global health challenge that kills nearly two million people annually, are time-consuming and inadequate. During infection a number of bacterial molecules that play a role in the infective process are released and have been proposed as biomarkers for early TB diagnosis. Antigen 85 (Ag85) is the most abundant secreted TB protein, and a potential target for this diagnostic approach. One of the bottlenecks in the direct detection of such bacterial targets is the availability of robust, sensitive, specific antibodies.