# Immunogenomics of susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) among nonhuman primate species

> **NIH NIH K01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $117,810

## Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a respiratory disease that causes the death of 1.5 million people each year. Approximately
30% of the human population worldwide are latently infected with TB, creating a risk for developing active TB
and transmission. Genomic studies have attempted to identify innate immune genes and polymorphisms that
affect susceptibility to TB among humans. Despite findings that suggest correlation of certain genetic
polymorphisms in specific immune genes with TB susceptibility, genomic studies have failed to identify specific
isoforms that might influence human TB susceptibility. This is because innate immune genes are highly
conserved among humans, making them exhibit similar immune responses to TB bacteria. By contrast, different
species of nonhuman primates exhibit different levels of susceptibility to TB. Rhesus macaques (macaca
mulatta) are more susceptible to TB compared to cynomolgus macaques (macaca fascicularis), yet the
underlying mechanism of this variation is unknown. It is crucial to compare innate immune response genes
across primate species in response to TB infection to identify the differences in immune orthologs that help
eliminate TB bacteria. Using comparative genomics approaches, this study explores and characterizes immune
responses across species by ex-vivo infection of different primate blood cells with TB bacteria using long-read
RNA-Seq. The use of long-read RNA-Seq provides a more comprehensive annotation of innate immune
orthologs across primate species which wasn’t possible in past studies using short-read RNA-seq. This study will
help identify species-specific immune orthologs important in immunity against TB, which might ultimately be
used to evaluate drug targets for human TB prevention and treatment. This comparative genomic approach can
also be applied to identify species-specific immune orthologs as drug targets for other infectious diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10526201
- **Project number:** 1K01OD030516-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Morteza Roodgar
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $117,810
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-07-15 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10526201

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10526201, Immunogenomics of susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) among nonhuman primate species (1K01OD030516-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10526201. Licensed CC0.

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