Project description:The emergence of drug resistance among tuberculosis (TB) patients is often associated with their non-compliance to the length of the chemotherapy, which can reach up to 2 years for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) TB. Drugs that would kill TB faster and would not lead to the development of drug resistance could shorten chemotherapy significantly. In Escherichia coli, the common mechanism of cell death by bactericidal antibiotics is the generation of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals via the Fenton reaction. Since ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is known to drive the Fenton reaction, we tested whether the Fenton reaction could lead to a bactericidal event in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by treating M. tuberculosis cultures with vitamin C. Here, we report that the addition of vitamin C to drug-susceptible, MDR and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) M. tuberculosis strains results in sterilization of the cultures in vitro. We show that the sterilizing effect of vitamin C on M. tuberculosis was dependent on the production of high ferrous ion levels and reactive oxygen species. Although, this potent sterilizing activity of vitamin C against M. tuberculosis in vitro was not observed in mice, we believe this activity needs further investigation. Comparison of vitamin C treated Mycobacterium tuberculosis transcriptome relative to untreated; Three biological replicates, second is a dye flip
Project description:The emergence of drug resistance among tuberculosis (TB) patients is often associated with their non-compliance to the length of the chemotherapy, which can reach up to 2 years for the treatment of multi-drug-resistant (MDR) TB. Drugs that would kill TB faster and would not lead to the development of drug resistance could shorten chemotherapy significantly. In Escherichia coli, the common mechanism of cell death by bactericidal antibiotics is the generation of highly reactive hydroxyl radicals via the Fenton reaction. Since ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is known to drive the Fenton reaction, we tested whether the Fenton reaction could lead to a bactericidal event in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by treating M. tuberculosis cultures with vitamin C. Here, we report that the addition of vitamin C to drug-susceptible, MDR and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) M. tuberculosis strains results in sterilization of the cultures in vitro. We show that the sterilizing effect of vitamin C on M. tuberculosis was dependent on the production of high ferrous ion levels and reactive oxygen species. Although, this potent sterilizing activity of vitamin C against M. tuberculosis in vitro was not observed in mice, we believe this activity needs further investigation.
Project description:Rifampicin plays an important role during tuberculosis treatment, which historically contributed for shortening therapy; however, rifampicin resistance has been the intersection for the definition of multi (MDR-TB) and extensively (XDR-TB) resistant outcomes. A key aspect which has contributed for investigations of drug action/resistance is the understanding of the dynamic genome expression, as that analyzed by Proteomics. Proteins from the reference strain, Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv were extracted after 12, 24 and 48 hours over rifampicin challenge at the minimal inhibitory concentration (0.03 μg•mL-1) and identified by LC-MS.
Project description:The emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains, resistant to the frontline anti-tubercular drugs rifampicin and isoniazid, forces treatment with less effective and toxic second-line drugs and stands to derail TB control efforts. However, the immune response to MDR Mtb infection remains poorly understood. Here, we determined the RNA transcriptional profile of in vitro generated macrophages to infection with either drug susceptible Mtb HN878 or MDR Mtb W_7642 infection.
Project description:Among the multidrug-resistant (MDR) clones of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that were epidemiologically particularly successful, the 100-32 MDR Beijing clone, also called B0/W148 clone, has emerged since the early sixties. These B0/W148 strains belonging to the lineage 2 within the global Mtb phylogeny, are the main contributors to the MDR epidemic in Russia and Eastern Europe, and since the USSR’s fall, have also propagated to Western Europe. Among the various mutations that were identified as being specific for the MDR B0/W148 clone, we focused on two found in the transcriptional regulators KdpDE and WhiB6 and characterized in a H37Rv strain background the transcriptional profile associated with these mutations and their potential impact on the in vitro and in vivo growth characteristics.
Project description:Among the multidrug-resistant (MDR) clones of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that were epidemiologically particularly successful, the 100-32 MDR Beijing clone, also called B0/W148 clone, has emerged since the early sixties. These B0/W148 strains belonging to the lineage 2 within the global Mtb phylogeny, are the main contributors to the MDR epidemic in Russia and Eastern Europe, and since the USSR’s fall, have also propagated to Western Europe. Among the various mutations that were identified as being specific for the MDR B0/W148 clone, we focused on two found in the transcriptional regulators KdpDE and WhiB6 and characterized in a H37Rv strain background the transcriptional profile associated with these mutations and their potential impact on the in vitro and in vivo growth characteristics.
Project description:Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the deadliest infectious disorders in the world. To effectively TB manage, an essential step is to gain insight into the lineage of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) strains and the distribution of drug resistance. Although the Campania region is declared a cluster area for the infection, to contribute to the effort to understand TB evolution and transmission, still poorly known, we have generated a dataset of 159 genomes of MTB strains, from Campania region collected during 2018-2021, obtained from the analysis of whole genome sequence data. The results show that the most frequent MTB lineage is the 4 according for 129 strains (81.11%). Regarding drug resistance, 139 strains (87.4%) were classified as multi susceptible, while the remaining 20 (12.58%) showed drug resistance. Among the drug-resistance strains, 8 were isoniazid-resistant MTB (HR-MTB), 7 were resistant only to one antibiotic (3 were resistant only to ethambutol and 3 isolate to streptomycin while one isolate showed resistance to fluoroquinolones), 4 multidrug-resistant MTB, while only one was classified as pre-extensively drug-resistant MTB (pre-XDR). This dataset expands the existing available knowledge on drug resistance and evolution of MTB, contributing to further TB-related genomics studies to improve the management of TB infection.
Project description:Tuberculosis (TB) is still a major life-threatening infectious disease, within which especially the rise of multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) is currently worrying. This study focuses on mechanisms of development of rifampicin resistance, since rifampicin seems to play an important role in the development of MDR-TB. To provide further insight in rifampicin resistance, we performed a genome-wide transcriptional profile analysis for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) using microarray technology and qRT-PCR analysis. We exposed a rifampicin-susceptible H37Rv wild type (H37Rv-WT) and a rifampicin-resistant progeny H37Rv strain with a H526Y mutation in the rpoB gene (H37Rv-H526Y) to several concentrations of rifampicin, to define the effect of rifampicin on the transcription profile. Our study showed that there are resistance-dependant differences in response between both M. tuberculosis strains. Gene clusters associated with efflux, transport and virulence were altered in the rifampicin-resistant H37Rv mutant compared to the rifampicin-susceptible H37Rv-WT strain after exposure to rifampicin. We conclude that the small gene cluster Rv0559c-Rv0560c in the H37Rv-H526Y strain was remarkably up-regulated in the microarray analysis and qRT-PCR results and appeared to be dependent on rifampicin concentration and time of exposure. Therefore this study suggests that Rv0559c and Rv0560c play a pivotal role in rifampicin resistance of M. tuberculosis. Further investigation of Rv0559c and Rv0560c is needed to reveal function and mechanism of both genes that were triggered upon rifampicin exposure. [Data is also available from http://bugs.sgul.ac.uk/E-BUGS-139]
Project description:Efforts to eradicate TB are largely threatened by drug-resistant tuberculosis, particularly, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). It is imperative to find one or more specific biomarkers for diagnosing MDR-TB earlier and declining the incidence. Growing evidences have showed lncRNAs are widely expressed and take part in the genesis and development of many diseases, including tuberculosis. Therefore, to screen the differential lncRNAs among MDR-TB, drug-sensitive tuberculosis(DS-TB) and healthy controls(HCs) is a good strategy to acquire potential biomarkers for MDR-TB diagnosis and partly describe the mechanism of MDR-TB. Here, the present study aimed to investigate the differential expression profile of lncRNAs in serum among patients with MDR-TB ,DS-TB and HCs using lncRNA microarray