Metabolic Network in Mycobacterium Tuberculosis


Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is one of the three leading causes of death of young adults worldwide. Although the current treatment regimen can be successful in curing drug-sensitive Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections, the long course of treatment with multiple chemotherapy agents makes treatment difficult to complete, especially in resource-poor developing countries. Moreover, incomplete therapy boosts the emergence of multi drug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) strains.

Many of the unique properties of M. tuberculosis can be attributed to its metabolism. The slow growth rate, and difficulty in applying conventional biochemical techniques in M. tuberculosis research has hindered efforts to elucidate this bacterium's metabolism, especially in the context of infection. A deeper understanding of mycobacterial metabolism during infection of the mammalian host could reveal new and more potent targets for drug development. Analysis of metabolism using genome-scale models offers an unconventional approach to understanding metabolism of this pathogen during growth and latency. In this work, this pathogen’s metabolism is analyzed for utilization of various carbon substrates. Significance of carbon source, especially in energy metabolism, has been the focus of experimental validation of model generated hypothesis.


Keywords: Metabolism, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Pathogen

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 Muhittin Emre  Özdemir


Muhittin Emre Özdemir
EPF Lausanne
Laboratory of Microbiology and Microsystems
SV 3832 - Station 19
CH - 1015 Lausanne

Phone: +41 21 693 18 36
emre.ozdemir(at)epfl.ch