Kupyaphores are zinc homeostatic metallophores required for colonization of <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) endures a combination of metal scarcity and toxicity throughout the human infection cycle, contributing to complex clinical manifestations. Pathogens counteract this paradoxical dysmetallostasis by producing specialized metal trafficking systems. Capture of extracellular metal by siderophores is a widely accepted mode of iron acquisition, and Mtb iron-chelating siderophores, mycobactin, have been known since 1965. Currently, it is not known whether Mtb produces zinc scavenging molecules. Here, we characterize low-molecular-weight zinc-binding compounds secreted and imported by Mtb for zinc acquisition. These molecules, termed kupyaphores, are produced by a 10.8 kbp biosynthetic cluster and consists of a dipeptide core of o

SUBMITTER: Mehdiratta K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8872721 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature