An estimated third of the world's population is latently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), with no clinical signs of tuberculosis (TB), but lifelong risk of reactivation to active disease. The niches of persisting bacteria during latent TB infection remain unclear. We detect Mtb DNA in peripheral blood selectively in long-term repopulating pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells (LT-...

CD4(+) T cells are prominent effector cells in controlling Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection but may also contribute to immunopathology. Studies probing the CD4(+) T cell response from individuals latently infected with Mtb or patients with active tuberculosis using either small or proteome-wide antigen screens so far revealed a multi-antigenic, yet mostly invariable repertoire of immu...

The success of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) as a pathogen rests upon its ability to grow intracellularly in macrophages. Interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is critical in host defense against Mtb and stimulates macrophage clearance of Mtb through an autophagy pathway. Here we show that the host protein ubiquilin 1 (UBQLN1) promotes IFN-γ-mediated autophagic clearance of Mtb. Ubiquilin family members ...

BACKGROUND The therapeutic HIV-1 Tat protein vaccine is in advanced clinical development. Tuberculosis, the main AIDS co-infection, is highly endemic in areas where AIDS prevention through vaccination is needed. However, safety and immunogenicity of Tat vaccination in the course of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection is still unknown and it prevents the possibility to administer the vacc...

Two billion people are latently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Mtb-infected macrophages are likely to be sequestered inside the hypoxic environments of the granuloma and differentiate into lipid-loaded macrophages that contain triacylglycerol (TAG)-filled lipid droplets which may provide a fatty acid-rich host environment for Mtb. We report here that human peripheral blood mono...

The intracellular pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) causes tuberculosis. Enhanced intracellular survival (Eis) protein, secreted by Mtb, enhances survival of Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msm) in macrophages. Mtb Eis was shown to suppress host immune defenses by negatively modulating autophagy, inflammation, and cell death through JNK-dependent inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) gen...

There is a recent emerging theory that suggests a cross-link between pathogens and cancer. In this context, we examined the association between the Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) with its L-forms (MTB-L) and lung cancer. In the present study, we have optimized and applied a highly sensitive assay to detect the presence of MTB and MTB-L in 187 lung cancer samples and 39 samples of other cancer...

We previously showed that viable Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacilli contain distinct ligands that activate cells via the mammalian Toll-like receptor (TLR) proteins TLR2 and TLR4. We now demonstrate that expression of a dominant negative TLR2 or TLR4 proteins in RAW 264.7 macrophages partially blocked Mtb-induced NF-kappa B activation. Coexpression of both dominant negative proteins block...

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted CD8(+) T cells play a critical role in the protective immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). However, only a few Mtb peptides recognized by MHC class Ia-restricted CD8(+) T cells have been identified. Information on epitopes recognized by class Ib-restricted T cells is even more limited. M3 is an MHC class Ib molecule that pr...