Secreted Mycobacterium tuberculosis Rv3654c and Rv3655c proteins participate in the suppression of macrophage apoptosis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Inhibition of macrophage apoptosis by Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been proposed as one of the virulence mechanisms whereby the pathogen avoids the host defense. The mechanisms by which M. tuberculosis H37Rv strain suppress apoptosis and escapes human macrophage killing was investigated.

Methodology/principal findings

The screening of a transposon mutant bank identified several mutants, which, in contrast to the wild-type bacterium, had impaired ability to inhibit apoptosis of macrophages. Among the identified genes, Rv3659c (31G12 mutant) belongs to an operon reminiscent of type IV pili. The Rv3654c and Rv3655c putative proteins in a seven-gene operon are secreted into the macrophage cytoplasm and suppress apoptosis by blocking the extrinsic pathway. The operon

SUBMITTER: Danelishvili L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2864267 | biostudies-literature | 2010 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature