Inject and infect: How Mycobacterium tuberculosis exploits its major virulence-associated type VII secretion system, ESX-1

Sangeeta Tiwari, Rosalyn Casey, Celia W. Goulding, Suzie Hingley-Wilson, William R. Jacobs

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is an ancient master of the art of causing human disease. One important weapon within its fully loaded arsenal is the type VII secretion system. M. tuberculosis has five of them: ESAT-6 secretion systems (ESX) 1 to 5. ESX-1 has long been recognized as a major cause of attenuation of the FDA-licensed vaccine Mycobacterium bovis BCG, but its importance in disease progression and transmission has recently been elucidated in more detail. This review summarizes the recent advances in (i) the understanding of the ESX-1 structure and components, (ii) our knowledge of ESX-1's role in hijacking macrophage function to set a path for infection and dissemination, and (iii) the development of interventions that utilize ESX-1 for diagnosis, drug interventions, host-directed therapies, and vaccines.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberBAI-0024-2019
JournalMicrobiology Spectrum
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Ecology
  • General Immunology and Microbiology
  • Genetics
  • Microbiology (medical)
  • Cell Biology
  • Infectious Diseases

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Inject and infect: How Mycobacterium tuberculosis exploits its major virulence-associated type VII secretion system, ESX-1'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this