Scientists find new role of a protein in regulating immune response

A novel mechanism of a protein secreted by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), inhibiting the infected host’s immune response by modulating certain genes has been discovered, giving rise to hopes of a targeted drug therapy.

With identification of suitable drug targets and candidate vaccines to control TB remaining a challenge and most of the studies focusing on strategies to prevent TB infection, scientists from the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD) here have looked at the interaction between pathogenic mycobacteria and the human cell during infection.

Giving details of the study which was published in the prestigious journal ‘Nature Communications’, CDFD Director G. R.Chandak along with the team of scientists led by Sanjeev Khosla told reporters on Thursday that the finding could not only be a potential drug target against mycobacterial infections but also help in developing a new biomarker for identification of M.tuberculosis infection in humans.