An attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical strain with a defect in ESX-1 secretion induces minimal host immune responses and pathology

Although Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) DK9897 is an attenuated strain, it was isolated from a patient with extrapulmonary tuberculosis and vaccination with a subunit vaccine (H56) induced poor protection against it. Both attenuation and lack of protection are because M.tb DK9897 cannot secrete the EsxA virulence factor nor induce a host response against it. Genome sequencing identified a frameshift mutation in the eccCa1 gene. Since the encoded EccCa1 protein provides energy for ESX-1 secretion, it suggested a defect in the ESX-1 type VII secretion system. Genetic complementation with a plasmid carrying the M.tb H37Rv sequence of eccCa1-eccCb1-pe35 re-established EsxA secretion, host specific EsxA T-cell responses, and increased strain virulence. The ESX-1 secretion defect prevents several virulence factors from being functional during infection and therefore attenuates M.tb. It precludes specific T-cell responses against strong antigens and we found very little in vivo cytokine production, gross pathology or granuloma formation in lungs from M.tb DK9897 infected animals. This coincides with M.tb DK9897 being unable to disrupt the phagosome membrane and make contact to the cytosol.