Sequencing of the entire genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis identified a novel multigene family composed of two closely related subfamilies designated PE and PE_PGRS. The major difference between these two families is the presence of a domain containing numerous Gly-Ala repeats extending to the C terminus of the PE_PGRS genes. We have used a representative PE_PGRS gene from M. tuberculosis, R...

Tuberculosis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Due to the extensive use of anti-tuberculosis drugs and the development of mutations, the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis is recognized as one of the most dangerous threats to global tuberculosis control. Some single mutations have been identified to be significantly linked with dru...

UNLABELLED Pathogenic and nonpathogenic species of bacteria and fungi release membrane vesicles (MV), containing proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids, into the extracellular milieu. Previously, we demonstrated that several mycobacterial species, including bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, release MV containing lipids and proteins that subvert host immune response i...

Much attention has focused on the Mycobacterium tuberculosis molecular chaperone chaperonin (Cpn) 60.2 (Hsp 65) in the pathology of tuberculosis because of its immunogenicity and ability to directly activate human monocytes and vascular endothelial cells. However, M. tuberculosis is one of a small group of bacteria that contain multiple genes encoding Cpn 60 proteins. We have now cloned and exp...

UNLABELLED Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts and are prevalent in the environment. Nearly 700 mycobacteriophage genomes have been completely sequenced, revealing considerable diversity and genetic novelty. Here, we have determined the protein complement of mycobacteriophage Giles by mass spectrometry and mapped its genome-wide protein interactome to help elucidate t...

An increase in the number of tuberculosis cases caused by multiple-drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has stimulated search for new antituberculous agents. Beta-lactam antibiotics, traditionally regarded as ineffective against tuberculosis, merit consideration. Four major penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) with approximate molecular sizes of 94, 82, 52, and 37 kDa were detecte...

OBJECTIVE To describe clinical and laboratory characteristics in patients with tuberculosis-related or lymphoma-related lymphocytic pleural effusions, in order to identify the variables that might contribute to differentiating between these diseases. METHODS This was a retrospective study involving 159 adult HIV-negative patients with tuberculosis-related or lymphoma-related lymphocytic effus...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The resistance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to streptomycin, a core drug for treatment of category II tuberculosis (TB) has posed a major challenge to the health providers as well as research workers worldwide and has severely compromised the therapeutic options. A significant proportion of streptomycin resistant M. tuberculosis isolates failed to show mutations in conv...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the causative agent of tuberculosis, a disease causing major mortality worldwide. As part of a systematic methodology for studying M. tuberculosis surface proteins which might be involved in host-pathogen interactions, our group found that LpqG surface protein (Rv3623) found in M. tuberculosis complex strains was located on the mycobacterial envelope and that pepti...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other pathogenic mycobacteria export abundant quantities of proteins into their extracellular milieu when growing either axenically or within phagosomes of host cells. One major extracellular protein, the enzyme glutamine synthetase, is of particular interest because of its link to pathogenicity. Pathogenic mycobacteria, but not nonpathogenic mycobacteria, export ...