Genetic regulation of vesiculogenesis and immunomodulation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) restrains immune responses well enough to escape eradication but elicits enough immunopathology to ensure its transmission. Here we provide evidence that this host-pathogen relationship is regulated in part by a cytosolic, membrane-associated protein with a unique structural fold, encoded by the Mtb gene rv0431. The protein acts by regulating the quantity of Mtb-derived membrane vesicles bearing Toll-like receptor 2 ligands, including the lipoproteins LpqH and SodC. We propose that rv0431 be named "vesiculogenesis and immune response regulator."

SUBMITTER: Rath P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3856836 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature