A recent emendation to the Mycobacteriaceae family classifies the former Mycobacterium genus in to 5 genera including the genus Mycobacterium, which contains species of slow-growing pathogenic bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium leprae, and Mycobacterium ulcerans, and 4 new genera: Mycolicibacter gen. nov., Mycolicibacterium gen. nov., Mycolicibacillus gen nov., and Mycobacteroides gen. nov. Despite the new classification, scientists across the world and along the years found that a big portion of the 188 mycobacterial species showed a strong immunomodulatory effect. Upon entrance to a new host, pathogenic mycobacteria trigger a complex immune response that consists of many layers and involves mainly macrophages and T cells, but almost every component of the host immune system gets involved in stopping the infection. For being highly immunogenic, mycobacteria and their components have been used as vaccines not only to prevent mycobacterial infections but also as adjuvants for vaccines against other infectious diseases and even cancer.

This methods collection aims to highlight current methods and models to study the immunomodulatory properties of Mycobacteria. The visual demonstration of the methods would help in their efficient transfer within the research community, promote standardization and collaboration and lead to the rapid progress of this field.