Mycobacterium tuberculosis
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMycobacterium tuberculosis MmsA (Rv0753c) Interacts with STING and Blunts the Type I Interferon Response
It is unclear how the type I IFN response is regulated by mycobacterial determinants. Here, we characterized the previously unreported role of M. tuberculosis MmsA in immunological regulation of type I IFN response by targeting the central adaptor STING in the DNA sensing pathway. We identified STING-interacting MmsA by coimmunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry-based (...
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyHeterologous Production of 1-Tuberculosinyladenosine in Mycobacterium kansasii Models Pathoevolution towards the Transcellular Lifestyle of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
This work sheds light on the role of the lipid 1-tuberculosinyladenosine in the evolution of an environmental ancestor to M. tuberculosis. On a larger scale, it reinforces the importance of horizontal gene transfer in bacterial evolution and examines novel models and methods to provide a better understanding of the subtle effects of individual...
- Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionNovel Antimicrobials from Uncultured Bacteria Acting against Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Decreasing discovery rates and increasing resistance have underscored the need for novel therapeutic options to treat Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Here, we screen extracts from previously uncultured soil microbes for specific activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, identifying three...
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyInhibition of Fatty Acid Oxidation Promotes Macrophage Control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the leading infectious disease killer worldwide. We discovered that intracellular Mtb fails to grow in macrophages in which fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) is blocked. Macrophages treated with FAO inhibitors rapidly generate a burst of mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen species, which promotes NADPH oxidase recruitment and autophagy...
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyMicroRNA-325-3p Facilitates Immune Escape of Mycobacterium tuberculosis through Targeting LNX1 via NEK6 Accumulation to Promote Anti-Apoptotic STAT3 Signaling
Intracellular survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis results in bacterial proliferation and the spread of infection in lungs, consequently deteriorating the conditions of tuberculosis (TB) patients. This research discovers a new immune escape pathway of M. tuberculosis by modulating host miR-325-3p...
- Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA CRISPR-Assisted Nonhomologous End-Joining Strategy for Efficient Genome Editing in Mycobacterium tuberculosis
The global health impact of M. tuberculosis necessitates the development of new genetic tools for its manipulation, to facilitate the identification and characterization of novel drug targets and vaccine candidates. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)–CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) genome editing has proven to be a powerful genetic tool...
- Observation | Host-Microbe BiologyIntracellular Mycobacterium leprae Utilizes Host Glucose as a Carbon Source in Schwann Cells
Leprosy remains a major problem in the world today, particularly affecting the poorest and most disadvantaged sections of society in the least developed countries of the world. The long-term aim of research is to develop new treatments and vaccines, and these aims are currently hampered by our inability to grow the pathogen in axenic culture. In this study, we probed the metabolism of...
- Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyFunctionally Overlapping Variants Control Tuberculosis Susceptibility in Collaborative Cross Mice
The variable outcome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection observed in natural populations is difficult to model in genetically homogeneous small-animal models. The newly developed Collaborative Cross (CC) represents a reproducible panel of genetically diverse mice that display a broad range of phenotypic responses to infection. We explored the genetic basis of this...
- Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionTranscriptomic Signatures Predict Regulators of Drug Synergy and Clinical Regimen Efficacy against Tuberculosis
Multidrug combination therapy is an important strategy for treating tuberculosis, the world’s deadliest bacterial infection. Long treatment durations and growing rates of drug resistance have created an urgent need for new approaches to prioritize effective drug regimens. Hence, we developed a computational model called INDIGO-MTB that identifies synergistic drug regimens from an immense set of possible drug combinations using the...