The re-emergence of tuberculosis as a public health problem has been complicated by the lack of effective chemotherapeutic agents and the development of drug-resistant strains. The cell wall of the pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is known to be the target of some of the most effective anti-mycobacterial drugs including ethambutol which is known to inhibit the biosynthesis of the arabinan of cell wall arabinogalactan (AG) and the associated lipoarabinomannan (LAM). A diverse range of biological studies over the past few years has collectively provided compelling evidence implicating LAM as a key surface molecule in host-pathogen interactions. The availability of truncated, mutated LAM variants as a consequence of drug resistance and genetic manipulation provides invaluable model compounds for both structural and functional studies aiming at defining the relevance of LAM in pathogenesis. Specifically, the fine details of the arabinan assembly and its point(s) of attachment to the phosphatidylinositol mannan core will be characterized and structural niceties positively correlating with particular biological attributes of clinical isolates will be identified. Structural basis of microheterogeneity in LAM will be defined and chemically and/or enzymatically modified arabinan and mannan will be derived from LAM for structural/biological studies. As a major spin off, the recent availability of the consequential cell wall mutants due to genetic manipulation of the embCAB proteins, and analyses of the gene products now allows us rationally to dissect the pathway to the formation of the arabinan of LAM/AG. In the same vein, studies on LAM mutants in M. tuberculosis and our concerted efforts on generating LAM depleted M. tuberculosis will contribute directly into addressing the role of LAM in survival/infectivity of the organism. Thus, the unifying theme of this Research Proposal encompasses structural analysis and manipulation of LAM, supplemented by genetic probes to alter its structure and mutate LAM in M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis all in relation to biology and biosynthesis.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI037139-09
Application #
7017722
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BM-1 (04))
Program Officer
Sizemore, Christine F
Project Start
1996-06-01
Project End
2009-02-28
Budget Start
2006-03-01
Budget End
2007-02-28
Support Year
9
Fiscal Year
2006
Total Cost
$247,788
Indirect Cost
Name
Colorado State University-Fort Collins
Department
Microbiology/Immun/Virology
Type
Schools of Veterinary Medicine
DUNS #
785979618
City
Fort Collins
State
CO
Country
United States
Zip Code
80523
Safi, Hassan; Lingaraju, Subramanya; Amin, Anita et al. (2013) Evolution of high-level ethambutol-resistant tuberculosis through interacting mutations in decaprenylphosphoryl-?-D-arabinose biosynthetic and utilization pathway genes. Nat Genet 45:1190-7
Tatham, Elizabeth; Sundaram Chavadi, Sivagami; Mohandas, Poornima et al. (2012) Production of mycobacterial cell wall glycopeptidolipids requires a member of the MbtH-like protein family. BMC Microbiol 12:118
Torrelles, Jordi B; Sieling, Peter A; Zhang, Nannan et al. (2012) Isolation of a distinct Mycobacterium tuberculosis mannose-capped lipoarabinomannan isoform responsible for recognition by CD1b-restricted T cells. Glycobiology 22:1118-27
Somashekar, Bagganahalli S; Amin, Anita G; Tripathi, Pratima et al. (2012) Metabolomic signatures in guinea pigs infected with epidemic-associated W-Beijing strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Proteome Res 11:4873-84
Zhang, Jian; Angala, Shiva K; Pramanik, Pradeep K et al. (2011) Reconstitution of functional mycobacterial arabinosyltransferase AftC proteoliposome and assessment of decaprenylphosphorylarabinose analogues as arabinofuranosyl donors. ACS Chem Biol 6:819-28
Somashekar, B S; Amin, Anita G; Rithner, Christopher D et al. (2011) Metabolic profiling of lung granuloma in Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected guinea pigs: ex vivo 1H magic angle spinning NMR studies. J Proteome Res 10:4186-95
Zhang, Jian; Amin, Anita G; Holemann, Alexandra et al. (2010) Development of a plate-based scintillation proximity assay for the mycobacterial AftB enzyme involved in cell wall arabinan biosynthesis. Bioorg Med Chem 18:7121-31
Amin, Anita G; Angala, Shiva K; Chatterjee, Delphi et al. (2009) Rapid screening of inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth using tetrazolium salts. Methods Mol Biol 465:187-201
Maloney, Erin; Stankowska, Dorota; Zhang, Jian et al. (2009) The two-domain LysX protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is required for production of lysinylated phosphatidylglycerol and resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides. PLoS Pathog 5:e1000534
Shi, Libin; Torrelles, Jordi B; Chatterjee, Delphi (2009) Lipoglycans of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: isolation, purification, and characterization. Methods Mol Biol 465:23-45

Showing the most recent 10 out of 12 publications