From in vivo observations, a majority of M. tuberculosis cells in latently infected individuals are in a dormant and probably nonculturable state, display little metabolic activity, and are phenotypically resistant to antibiotics. Despite many attempts, no specific antimicrobials effective against latent tuberculosis have yet been found, partly because of a lack of reliable and adequate in vitr...

Compounds originally designed as putative tubulin inhibitors were tested as antitubercular agents for inhibition of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis analogue of tubulin, FtsZ. Initial screening of 200 2-alkoxycarbonylpyridines found several that inhibited M. tuberculosis growth. Two compounds, SRI-3072 and SRI-7614, inhibited FtsZ polymerization and were equipotent against susceptible and single-...

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex includes bovine and human strains of the tuberculosis bacillus, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis and the Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine strain. M. bovis has evolved from a M. tuberculosis-like ancestor and is the ancestor of the BCG vaccine. The pathogens demonstrate distinct differences in virulence, host range and metabolism, bu...

Background and objectives: Tuberculosis (TB) is the major public health problem in the world. Each year there are 2-3 million deaths worldwide caused by TB. The increasing incidence of Multi Drug Resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB) worldwide highlights the urgent need to search for new antituberculosis compounds. It has been reported that medicinal plant, Dracocephalum kotschyi, possesses some ant...

BACKGROUND Tuberculosis of the central nervous system (CNS) is a serious, often fatal disease primarily affecting young children. It develops after hematogenous dissemination and subsequent invasion of the CNS by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The microbial determinants involved in CNS disease are poorly characterized. METHODS Hematogenously disseminated M. tuberculosis infection was simulated i...

Previous work established that the principal sigma factor (RpoV) of virulent Mycobacterium bovis, a member of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, restores virulence to an attenuated strain containing a point mutation (Arg-515-->His) in the 4.2 domain of RpoV. We used the 4.2 domain of RpoV as bait in a yeast two-hybrid screen of an M. tuberculosis H37Rv library and identified a putative tra...

Profile analysis of mycolic acid ester patterns of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, and Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Gúerin (BCG) using high-performance liquid chromatography indicated that separation of BCG from M. tuberculosis and M. bovis by elution and relative retention times is possible. Mycolic acid patterns of BCG eluted from the column 0.5 min before M. tubercu...

Tuberculosis remains one of humankind's greatest killers, and new therapeutic strategies are needed to combat the causative agent, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which is rapidly developing resistance to conventional antibiotics. Using the highly demanding guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis, we have investigated the feasibility of inhibiting M. tuberculosis glutamine synthetase (GS), an en...

26 Tuberculosis (TB) in humans is caused by members of the Mycobacterium 27 tuberculosis complex (MTC). Rapid detection of the MTC is necessary for the timely 28 initiation of antibiotic treatment, while differentiation between members of the 29 complex may be important to guide the appropriate antibiotic treatment and provide 30 epidemiological information. 31 In this study, a multiplex real-t...

Immune responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis are analyzed in mice which have been immunized with Mycobacterium vaccae to examine novel ways of altering protective immunity against M. tuberculosis. The spleen cells of mice immunized with M. vaccae proliferate and secrete gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in response to challenge with live M. tuberculosis in vitro. Immunization with M. vaccae result...