Tuberculosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Tuberculosis, including details on symptoms, causes, treatment, pulmonary, mycobacterium.

Unique transcriptome signature of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in pulmonary tuberculosis.

Rachman H, Strong M, Ulrichs T, Grode L, Schuchhardt J, Mollenkopf H, Kosmiadi GA, Eisenberg D, Kaufmann SH

Max Planck Institute for Infection, Immunology, Schumannstrasse 21-22, Berlin 10117, Germany.

Although tuberculosis remains a substantial global threat, the mechanisms that enable mycobacterial persistence and replication within the human host are ill defined. This study represents the first genome-wide expression analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from clinical lung samples, which has enabled the identification of M. tuberculosis genes actively expressed during pulmonary tuberculosis. To obtain optimal information from our DNA array analyses, we analyzed the differentially expressed genes within the context of computationally inferred protein networks. Protein networks were constructed using functional linkages established by the Rosetta stone, phylogenetic profile, conserved gene neighbor, and operon computational methods. This combined approach revealed that during pulmonary tuberculosis, M. tuberculosis actively transcribes a number of genes involved in active fortification and evasion from host defense systems. These genes may provide targets for novel intervention strategies.

Published 23 January 2006 in Infect Immun, 74(2): 1233-42.
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