Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, produces pairs of poison-antidote compounds called “toxin-antitoxin,” which enable it to control its growth and adapt to attacks.
Pierre Genevaux, his team, Xue Han, Moïse Mansour, Paul Chansigaud, Carine Pagès, Xibing Xu (LMGM-CBI) and their collaborators Roland Barriot, Peter Redder (LMGM-CBI), Hussein Hamze (MCD-CBI), Izaak Beck, Tom Arrowsmith, Tim Blower (Durham University), Hatice Akarsu, and Laurent Falquet (University of Fribourg) have identified one of these toxins that blocks protein production, causing the bacillus to die.
Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This bacterium mainly affects the lungs and is transmitted from person to person through the air. It can persist in the body for a long time in a dormant, non-replicative and drug-resistant form: latent tuberculosis.
The emergence of multi-resistant and ultra-resistant strains of antibiotics has increased the need to identify new targets and innovative treatment strategies for developing new drugs.
Stimulating the activity of this toxin could help to combat certain strains of bacteria that are multi-resistant to antibiotics.
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