Synthetic immunogens for prophylaxis or treatment of tuberculosis

1. A composition comprising one or more optimized nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of:

a) one or more nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxV, esxS and esxW coding sequences, an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxD, esxQ and esxE coding sequences, an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxH, esxA and esxT coding sequences, an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxB, esxC and esxU coding sequences, and an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxO, esxR and esxF coding sequences;

b) one or more nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:19 or SEQ ID NO:1, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:21 or SEQ ID NO:3, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:23 or SEQ ID NO:5, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:25 or SEQ ID NO:7, and a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:27 or SEQ ID NO:9;

c) one or more nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:19, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:21, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:23, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:25, and a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:27;

d) one or more nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: a nucleic acid molecule that encodes SEQ ID NO:20, a nucleic acid molecule that encodes SEQ ID NO:22, a nucleic acid molecule that encodes SEQ ID NO:24, a nucleic acid molecule that encodes SEQ ID NO:26, and a nucleic acid molecule that encodes SEQ ID NO:28;

e) one or more nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:1, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:3, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:5, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:7, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:9, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:19, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:21, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ NO:23, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ NO:25, a nucleic acid molecule that comprises SEQ ID NO:27, fragments thereof having at least 90% of full length, homologous sequences having at least 95% homology, and fragments of homologous sequences having at least 95% homology, said fragment of homologous sequences having at least 95% homology having at least 90% of full length; and

f) one or more nucleic acid molecule that encodes an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:8, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:22, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:28, fragments thereof having at least 90% of full length, homologous sequences having at least 95% homology, and fragments of homologous sequences having at least 95% homology, said fragments of homologous sequences having at least 95% homology having at least 90% of full length.

2. The composition of claim 1 comprising a combination of a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:19, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:21, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ NO:23, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:25, and a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:27.

3. The composition of claim 2 , where in the nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:19 is a plasmid, the nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:21 is a plasmid, the nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:23 is a plasmid, the nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:25 is a plasmid, and the nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:27 is a plasmid.

4. The composition of claim 1 comprising a combination of an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxV, esxS and esxW coding sequences, an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxD, esxQ and esxE coding sequences, an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxH, esxA and esxT coding sequences, an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxB, esxC and esxU coding sequences, and an optimized nucleic acid molecule comprising esxO, esxR and esxF coding sequences.

5. The composition of claim 4 comprising a combination of a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:19 or SEQ ID NO:1, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:21 or SEQ ID NO:3, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:23 or SEQ ID NO:5, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:25 or SEQ ID NO:7, and a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:27 or SEQ ID NO:9.

6. The composition of claim 1 comprising a nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ NO:25, and SEQ ID NO:27.

7. The composition of claim 6 , wherein the nucleic acid molecule is a plasmid.

8. The composition of claim 1 comprising: a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:1, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ NO:3, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:5, a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ ID NO:7, and a nucleic acid molecule comprising SEQ NO:9.

9. The composition of claim 1 further comprising nucleic acid sequences that encode one or more proteins selected from the group consisting of: IL-12, IL-15 and IL-28.

10. The composition of claim 1 formulated for delivery to an individual using electroporation.

11. A method of inducing an immune response against tuberculosis (TB) comprising administering the composition of claim 1 to an individual in an amount effective to induce an immune response in said individual.

12. A method of treating an individual who has been diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of the composition of claim 1 to an individual.