Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a pathogenic bacterial species in the genus Mycobacterium and the causative agent of most cases of tuberculosis. M. tuberculosis has an unusual, waxy coating on the cell surface (primarily mycolic acid), which makes the cells impervious to Gram staining so acid-fast detection techniques are used instead. CFP-10 also known as ESAT-6-like protein esxB or secreted antigenic protein MTSA-10 or 10 kDa culture filtrate antigen CFP-10 is a protein that is encoded by the esxB gene. CFP-10 is a 10 kDa secreted antigen from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It forms a 1:1 heterodimeric complex with ESAT-6. Both genes are expressed from the RD1 region of the bacterial genome and play a key role in the virulence of the infection. Alternative Names: Tuberculosis CFP-10 protein, CFP10 protein, CFP 10 protein, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis CFP-10 protein, TB CFP10 protein