Scientists
based in Vienna unveil the complex molecular structure that causes lethal
infections by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Their findings might have
implications for potential therapies against antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis.
The researchers have described the overall architecture of an assembly of
proteins known as Type VII (T7SS) secretion systems found in a group of
bacteria which cause diseases such as tuberculosis.
T7SS-systems
play a key role in tuberculosis infections and might present important targets
for much needed new drugs: blocking these systems could prevent the bacteria
from bursting the host cells and could thus alleviate the infection.
In
addition to the core body of T7SS, some of the proteins extend down into the
bacterial cell. The team collected Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) data at
the EMBL SAXS beamline on the DESY campus in Hamburg to help understand what
they look like and how these parts of the secretion system might move. "We
believe these arm-like proteins help to move the molecules of different shapes
and sizes from the inside of the bacterial cell towards the pore of the
secretion system for them to be transported out of the cell," says first
author Kate Beckham from EMBL Hamburg.
Now
further biochemical and genetic experiments will be carried out to support the
structural data and to provide in vivo insights into the components required
for assembly of the T7 secretion system.
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