Communications Biology (Aug 2024)

Depletion of essential mycobacterial gene glmM reduces pathogen survival and induces host-protective immune responses against tuberculosis

  • Meetu Agarwal,
  • Ashima Bhaskar,
  • Biplab Singha,
  • Suparba Mukhopadhyay,
  • Isha Pahuja,
  • Archna Singh,
  • Shivam Chaturvedi,
  • Nisheeth Agarwal,
  • Ved Prakash Dwivedi,
  • Vinay Kumar Nandicoori

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06620-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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Abstract The limitations of TB treatment are the long duration and immune-dampening effects of anti-tuberculosis therapy. The Cell wall plays a crucial role in survival and virulence; hence, enzymes involved in its biosynthesis are good therapeutic targets. Here, we identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) GlmM, (GlmM Mtb ) engaged in the UDP-GlcNAc synthesis pathway as an essential enzyme. We generated a conditional knockdown strain, Rv-glmM kD using the CRISPR interference-mediated gene silencing approach. Depletion of GlmM Mtb affects the morphology and thickness of the cell wall. The Rv-glmM kD strain attenuated Mtb survival in vitro, in the host macrophages (ex vivo), and in a murine mice infection model (in vivo). Results suggest that the depletion of GlmM Mtb induces M1 macrophage polarization, prompting a pro-inflammatory cytokine response, apparent from the upregulation of activation markers, including IFNɣ and IL-17 that resists the growth of Mtb. These observations provide a rationale for exploring GlmM Mtb as a potential therapeutic target.