Phenylalanine-rich peptides potently bind ESAT6, a virulence determinant of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and concurrently affect the pathogen's growth.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The secretory proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) have been known to be involved in the virulence, pathogenesis as well as proliferation of the pathogen. Among this set, many proteins have been hypothesized to play a critical role at the genesis of the onset of infection, the primary site of which is invariably the human lung.

Methodology/principal findings

During our efforts to isolate potential binding partners of key secretory proteins of M. tuberculosis from a human lung protein library, we isolated peptides that strongly bound the virulence determinant protein Esat6. All peptides were less than fifty amino acids in length and the binding was confirmed by in vivo as well as in vitro studies. Curiously, we found all three binders to be unus

SUBMITTER: Kumar K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2768790 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature