LAUSR

PE/PPE family antigens are distributed mainly in pathogenic mycobacteria and serve as potential antituberculosis (TB) vaccine components. Some PE/PPE family antigens can regulate the host innate immune response, interfere with macrophage activation and phagolysosome fusion, and serve as major sources of antigenic variation. PE/PPE antigens have been associated with mycobacteria pathogenesis; pe/ppe genes are mainly found in pathogenic mycobacteria and are differentially expressed between Mtb and Mycobacterium bovis. PE/PPE proteins were essential for the growth of Mtb, and PE/PPE proteins were differentially expressed under a variety of conditions. Multiple mycobacterial‐virulence‐related transcription factors, sigma factors, the global transcriptional regulation factor Lsr2, MprAB, and PhoPR two‐component regulatory systems, and cyclic adenine monophosphate‐dependent regulators, regulate the expression of PE/PPE family antigens. Multiple‐scale integrative analysis revealed the expression and regulatory networks of PE/PPE family antigens underlying the virulence and pathogenesis of Mtb, providing important clues for the discovery of new anti‐TB measures.