Researchers at University of Leicester have made advancement in the fight against TB by isolating two proteins from the bacterium that can be a potential target to avoid its resurgence.
They claim to have isolated the molecular 'weapons' of the bacterium and are now conducting further studies to gauge ways to make the bacterium ineffective.The two proteins, ESAT-6 and CFP-10 are believed to thrive the bacterium in white blood cells.
"One of the most important of these molecular weapons is known as the ESAT-6/CFP-10 complex. These are two proteins that bind together to become a functional unit, and it is thought that they may be needed to allow the bacteria to thrive inside white blood cells, as happens during the initial infection," said Dr. Mark Carr, from the Department of Biochemistry.
"Removal of the genes for this complex from the TB genome renders the bacteria unable to cause disease, exposing how important this particular weapon is to the bacteria, he added.
The researchers are conducting further researches to identify the exact components of the human white blood cells that this complex is targeting.
That would provide greater understanding of the activity of these molecular weapons of TB.
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