The Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence factor trehalose dimycolate imparts desiccation resistance to model mycobacterial membranes.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacteria, including persistent pathogens like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, have an unusual membrane structure in which, outside the plasma membrane, a nonfluid hydrophobic fatty acid layer supports a fluid monolayer rich in glycolipids such as trehalose 6,6'-dimycolate (TDM; cord factor). Given the abilities of mycobacteria to survive desiccation and trehalose in solution to protect biomolecules and whole organisms during freezing, drying, and other stresses, we hypothesized that TDM alone may suffice to confer dehydration resistance to the membranes of which it is a constituent. We devised an experimental model that mimics the structure of mycobacterial envelopes in which an immobile hydrophobic layer supports a TDM-rich, two-dimensionally fluid leaflet. We have found that TDM monolaye

SUBMITTER: Harland CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2397374 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature