Tuberculosis Research and Epidemiology

Novel human monoclonal antibodies with enhanced sensitivity for lipoarabinomannan antigens present in urines of TB patients

Converting human antibody A194-01 from IgG1 to IgM broadens glycan recognition and boosts urinary lipoarabinomannan detection, and RU95-C1, a mannan-targeting antibody, works as a capture partner.

Uncoupling mycomembrane biogenesis from mycolic acid synthesis reveals a distinct role for mycoloyltransferases in mycobacterial cell division.

This study shows that mycoloyltransferases are essential for mycomembrane assembly and cell division in Corynebacterium glutamicum, independent of their role in mycolic acid transfer.

Protein kinase F regulates the virulence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

This study shows that deleting the pknF gene in Mycobacterium tuberculosis increases its virulence in mice by enhancing production of the pro-virulence lipid PDIM and reducing host survival.

FARM: Forecasting Antibiotic Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using biophysics and machine learning

The paper develops FARM, a framework to predict antibiotic resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by combining biophysical and machine learning features, achieving high accuracy in distinguishing resistance-associated variants.

Inflammatory Biomarkers of Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Tuberculosis

This study identifies transcriptomic and proteomic features of asymptomatic tuberculosis, revealing distinct sub-clusters and a new blood signature, but finds weaker diagnostic performance for asymptomatic cases compared to symptomatic ones.

mRNA-based prime-and-pull vaccination combines benefits of subcutaneous and mucosal BCG vaccination

This paper describes an mRNA-based prime-and-pull vaccination strategy that combines subcutaneous BCG vaccination with mucosal mRNA delivery to achieve protective immunity against tuberculosis with improved safety.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis diversity and macrophage heterogeneity dictate phagosomal acidification

This study shows how different Mycobacterium tuberculosis lineages interact with macrophage phenotypes to affect phagosomal acidification, highlighting the complexity of host-pathogen interactions in tuberculosis.

Mycobacterial load and direct contact primes spacious to compact phagosome switching for egress

This study shows that mycobacterial load and direct contact determine phagosome fate by altering membrane mechanics, leading to spacious or compact phagosomal states that influence bacterial egress.

Expanding the palette of trehalose-based fluorophores for live mycobacterial detection

This paper develops two new trehalose-based fluorophores for detecting live mycobacteria, showing improved spectral range and drug susceptibility reporting.

Subunit vaccination enhances protection conferred by prior Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure

This study shows that subunit vaccination provides better protection than BCG in Mtb-exposed individuals, supported by mouse models and human data.

Identification of a new mycobacterial peptide that controls the activity of the iron-dependent regulator, IdeR.

The paper identifies a mycobacterial peptide, PRI, that regulates IdeR activity, impacting iron homeostasis and Mtb replication in macrophages.

Polar growth factor PgfA regulates polar peptidoglycan synthesis as well as mycolate synthesis in Mycobacterium smegmatis

This paper identifies PgfA as a regulator of peptidoglycan and mycolate synthesis in Mycobacterium smegmatis, showing it can both activate and inhibit peptidoglycan metabolism depending on its binding state with TMMs.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Δlsr2 Vaccine Enhances Protection Against Tuberculosis

This study evaluates a modified Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine, Δlsr2, showing stronger immune responses and better protection against tuberculosis in mice and guinea pigs compared to BCG.

Intrinsic T-cell programming and immune spatial organization govern sex-biased tuberculosis immunity

This study identifies intrinsic T-cell programming and pulmonary immune spatial organization as sex-dependent mechanisms governing tuberculosis immunity in mice.

Restricted MHC-II trafficking in Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected M2-like macrophages limits CD4+ T cell activation

This study identifies IL-10 and type I IFN signaling as mechanisms that restrict MHC-II trafficking in Mtb-infected M2-like macrophages, limiting CD4+ T cell activation.

Mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan negatively interferes with macrophage responses to Aspergillus fumigatus in-vitro

This study shows that mycobacterial lipoarabinomannan impairs macrophage ability to kill Aspergillus fumigatus conidia and increases inflammatory cytokine release in vitro.

Pulmonary delivery of antigen-enhanced BCG overcomes safety barriers in immunocompromised hosts and protects against TB in the absence of adaptive immunity.

This study shows that pulmonary delivery of ESAT-6-secreting BCG strains improves safety and protection against TB in immunocompromised mice, independent of adaptive immunity.

High Dimensional Immune Profiling Reveals CD39 as a Correlate of Tuberculosis Disease Severity

This study uses high-dimensional immune profiling to identify CD39 as a correlate of tuberculosis disease severity and shows its potential as a therapeutic target.

IFN and IFN mimetics prevent IFN-I-mediated TB susceptibility by regulating iron metabolism and lipid peroxidation

This study identifies how IFN and mimetics prevent TB susceptibility by modulating iron metabolism and lipid peroxidation in macrophages.

Benchmarking the translational potential of AI-based drug-resistance prediction from Mycobacterium tuberculosis whole-genome sequencing data

This paper benchmarks AI-based drug-resistance prediction models for Mycobacterium tuberculosis using a large unified dataset, finding XGBoost performs best in precision-recall and F1 metrics, while neural models excel in AUROC.

Analysis of genetic variation in the bovine Mannose Receptor gene (MRC1), its influence on receptor expression, and a potential association with resistance to bovine tuberculosis

The paper identifies genetic variants in the bovine MRC1 gene, analyzes their impact on receptor expression, and explores their potential role in bovine tuberculosis resistance.

BCG vaccination elicits protection against Mtb infection mediated by two phases of T cell immunity

This study shows BCG vaccination protects against Mtb infection in CC042 mice through two T cell-dependent phases: an early innate response and a later effector T cell response.

The lung tissue environment in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection determines local monocyte differentiation

This study shows that the local lung environment, not the peripheral environment, drives phenotypic diversity in monocyte-derived lung cells during Mtb infection.

Associations Between QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus IFNγ Concentrations and Progression to Symptomatic Tuberculosis in Global High-Burden TB Settings

This study finds higher QuantiFERON-TB Gold Plus IFNγ concentrations are associated with progression to symptomatic TB and meet WHO biomarker thresholds.

Mitochondrial STAT3-mediated suppression of apoptosis constrains antimycobacterial immunity

This study identifies Trim14's role in suppressing apoptosis via mitochondrial Stat3 during Mtb infection, enhancing antimycobacterial immunity.

Impaired IFNγ responsiveness of monocyte-derived lung cells limits immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The paper identifies impaired IFNγ responsiveness in CD11clo monocyte-derived lung cells as a mechanism allowing Mycobacterium tuberculosis persistence during chronic infection.

In vitro pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the diarylquinoline TBAJ-587 and its metabolites against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

This study evaluates the in vitro pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of TBAJ-587 and its metabolites against M. tuberculosis, showing their efficacy and binding behavior in different media.

Systems analysis reveals alternate metabolic states adopted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis across species

This study compares the metabolic states of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in human and mouse macrophages, revealing species-specific lipid metabolism and identifying a barrier to lipid access in human macrophages.

Cardiolipin modulation of MmpL3 in mycobacteria

This study investigates how cardiolipin modulates MmpL3 function in mycobacteria, revealing its role in regulating proton translocation and MA transport.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis partitions the Krebs cycle under iron starvation

This study shows how Mycobacterium tuberculosis adjusts its Krebs cycle under iron starvation by splitting carbon flux between oxidative and reductive branches and secreting malate.