TB is a respiratory illness responsible for the highest mortality rates in the world due to a single bacterium. The unique and complex biology of Mtb bacilli during different stages of TB pathology, and a near-perfect paradigm of a host-pathogen relationship, poses a serious challenge to the development of new therapies for TB eradication. Therefore, an understanding of host-pathogen nexus may help in identifying the key mechanisms for nutritional immunity and metabolic vulnerabilities, which are important to develop new chemotherapeutic strategies. We have previously reported that vitamin B12, which is an indispensable cofactor in all domains of life, is utilised by Mtb for riboswitch-mediated gene expression regulation during planktonic growth and during the reactivation of dormant bacilli. Although non-tuberculous and environmental strains of mycobacteria are generally capable of de novo B12 synthesis, organisms belonging to the MTBC are largely the exception. Yet, the evidence shows that MTBC strains retain the capacity for exogenous uptake – emphasising the relevance of scavenging B12 for the physiology of MTBC. My current research aims to elucidate the mechanisms of vitamin B12 uptake and its utilization for Mtb physiology and virulence using a combination of molecular approaches, including proximity labeling and protein mass spectrometry, ribosome profiling, microscopy, and in vivo models.
Affiliations
Centres
Research
Tuberculosis (TB), Vitamin B12 (cobalamin), RNA, Gene expression regulation, Mycobacteria, Dormancy, Proximity Labeling, Mass spectrometry, Ribo-seq, Transcriptomics, Proteomics